Abstract:
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A pilot sire reference scheme was conducted to study the feasibility of ranking sires across separate pig herds. In all, 2,024 progeny were tested by 53 home sires over 340 sows. Farms differed significantly in backfat thickness, selection index and litter size at birth and weaning. Dam's parity significantly affected all the above variables as well as growth rate, and dam's standardized index score had a significant effect on growth rate, selection index and litter size at weaning. The major conclusions
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