BODY CONDITION EVALUATION IN SOWS

In the porcine species the 'thin sow syndrome', the 'fat sow syndrome' and the 'second parity syndrome' have been related to problems with t he regulation and dynamics of body condition. There is, therefore, a n eed to adequately monitor body condition. In a first study, a new body condition monitoring technique was developed. Several body measuremen ts of sows were related, by multiple regression, to an indirect repres entation of body composition based on principal components derived fro m live weight and backfat measurements. In a second study, the reliabi lity of this new technique was also determined and compared to that of a more traditional scoring system based on visual appraisal and palpa tion. Five observers independently evaluated thirty sows three times u sing the two techniques. Both techniques were found to be similarly re peatable. The new technique, however, was found to have higher reprodu cibility. It is concluded that body condition is better represented by the use of principal components and that they can be predicted from b ody morphology under field conditions.