[Effect of biotechnical labor induction on selected performance parameters of parturient sows and piglets]

Prostaglandin F2 alpha (PGF2 alpha) was used in two experiments to induce parturition in sows. The effects of such biological engineering approach on various performance parameters of sows and piglets were studied and compared with values recorded from animals with spontaneous parturition. PGF2 alpha-treatment had no impact on the percentage of liveborn piglets that were suitable for raising nor on losses durin early raising up to the tenth day of age or on subsequent fertility of the sows concerned. Average birth weights were slightly lowered in one of the experiments in piglets born by sows that had received PGF2 alpha injections as early as on the 112th day of pregnancy. The biological engineering approach also brought down the number of sows with increased body temperature over the first four days from parturition.