Crossbreeding and consanguinity management in pig farms in the departments of Ouémé and Plateau in Benin

Vet World Vol.12 November-2019 Article-18

Research Article

Veterinary World, 12(11): 1816-1825

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2019.1816-1825

Ignace Ogoudanan Dotché¹, Simon Idohou¹, Mahamadou Dahouda², Pascal Kiki¹, Benoit Govoeyi^1,3, Nicolas Antoine-Moussiaux³, Jean-Paul Dehoux⁴, Guy Apollinaire Mensah⁵, Souaïbou Farougou⁶, Pierre Thilmant^3,7, Issaka Youssao Abdou Karim¹, and Benoît Koutinhouin⁶

1. Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology and Meat Technology, Department of Animal Production and Health, Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 2009, Cotonou, Benin.
2. Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agronomic Science, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 526, Cotonou, Benin.
3. Fundamental and Applied Research for Animals and Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liége, Vallée 2, Avenue de Cureghem, B-4000 Liége, Belgium.
4. Laboratory of Experimental Surgery, Universite Catholique de Louvain, 55/70, Avenue Hippocrate, 1200, Brussels, Belgium.
5. Agricultural Research Center of Agonkamey, National Institute of Agricultural Research of Benin, 01 BP 884, Cotonou, Benin.
6. Department of Animal Production and Health, Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 BP 2009, Cotonou, Benin.
7. Provincial Center of Productions Animales, Liége (CPL Animal), Rue de Saint Remy, 5 B4601 Argenteau, Belgium.

Background and Aim: This study aims to characterize practices related to consanguinity management in pigs reared in Ouémé and Plateau.

Materials and Methods: Crossbreeding and consanguinity data were collected from 60 farms in these two departments. Frequencies and averages were calculated and compared between departments, genetic types, and origin of progenitors.

Results: The majority of the investigated pig farmers in both departments were married men of primary or secondary education level. Most of them cross animals without a specific crossbreeding scheme. These crossings were performed to a greater extent (p<0.05) in Ouémé (94.28%) than in Plateau (52%). In general, farmers cross improved animals of high breeding values with the crossbred ones. These crossings were mainly performed to improve zootechnical performances. Renewing animals were commonly chosen from the farm or were provided from nearby farms. The majority of pig breeders in Ouémé (100%) and Plateau (86.67%) obtained reproductive animals from nearby farms. Males and females were sometimes bought from the same farm or from farms that pig breeders have sold reproductive animals in the previous years. In the case of selection within their own farm, male and female progenitors are separated at puberty by the majority of the breeders of Plateau (42.11%) and Ouémé (50%). Inbred mating was reported by breeders. More than half of breeders mate animals having a parental link in both departments. The mating was performed between animals of the same mother in 37.93% of farms in Ouémé and in 45.46% in Plateau. The main consanguinity consequences mentioned by the breeders were the high mortality at birth and weaning, piglets' weakness at the birth, the slow growth, and the decrease in litter size. Sows with at least one parent from external farm had a litter size at birth and weaning and a live-born piglets' number significantly higher than sows with both parents from the same farm.

Conclusion: Rigorous monitoring of crossing and the filial links are necessary for pig farms for ensuring the improvement of zootechnical performances. Keywords: consanguinity, crossbreeding, pig, zootechnical performances.

Keywords: consanguinity, crossbreeding, pig, zootechnical performances.

How to cite this article: Dotché IO, Idohou S, Dahouda M, Kiki P, Govoeyi B, Antoine-Moussiaux N, Dehoux J-P, Mensah GA, Farougou S, Thilmant P, Youssao AKI, Koutinhouin B (2019) Crossbreeding and consanguinity management in pig farms in the departments of Ouémé and Plateau in Benin, Veterinary World, 12(11): 1816-1825.

Received: 19-07-2019 Accepted: 11-10-2019 Published online: 21-11-2019

Corresponding author: Ignace Ogoudanan Dotché E-mail: dotcheign@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.1816-1825

Copyright: Dotché, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.