The Effect of Dose and Route of Administration of D-cloprostenol and Cloprostenol on the Parturient Response of Sows

The aim of the present study was to further examine the efficacy of different doses and routes of D-cloprostenol and cloprostenol administration on the parturition response in sows. Ninety crossbred multiparous sows (Landrace x Yorkshire) with an average parity number of 4.3 ± 2.4 were allocated to induce farrowing by one of the following treatments: Gr. 1 (control, n=10) injection with normal saline 2 ml administered IM; Gr. 2 (n=10) injection with 75 μg of Dcloprostenol administered IM (at 7 am);Gr. 3 (n=10) injection with 75 μg of D-cloprostenol (at 7am) together with 10 IU of oxytocin (24 h after injection of D-cloprostenol) administered IM; Gr. 4 (n=10) injection with 37.5 μg of D-cloprostenol (at 7 am) administered into perivulva region; Gr. 5 (n=10) injection with 37.5 μg of D-cloprostenol (at 7 am) administered into perivulva region together with 10 IU of oxytocin (24 h after injection of D-cloprostenol) administered IM. Gr. 6 (n=10) injection with 175 μg of cloprostenol administered IM (at 7 am); Gr. 7 (n=10) injection with 87.5 μg of cloprostenol (at 7am) together with 10 IU of oxytocin (24 h after injection of cloprostenol) administered IM; Gr. 8 (n=10) injection with 87.5 μg of cloprostenol (at 7 am) administered into perivulva region; Gr. 9 (n=10) injection with 87.5 μg of cloprostenol (at 7 am) administered into perivulva region together with 10 IU of oxytocin (24 h after injection of cloprostenol) administered IM. The following parameters: pre-farrowing maternal behavior and restless behavior (recorded as present or absence), cloprostenols or oxytocin injection to farrowing interval, expulsion intervals, duration of farrowing, total number of piglets born, litter birthweight, umbilical cord morphology and the degree of meconium staining, were recorded. There were not differences between groups for the pre-farrowing maternal behaviors. In all the sows, the restless behavior was not observed. There were no significant effect of oxytocin administration (10 IU, IM) on the percentage of umbilical cord morphology and the degree of meconium staining in different groups. There were no significant effect of route and dose of administration on the number of total piglet born, piglet born alive, stillbirth, mummy and litter birthweight. No significant effects of the different groups were found on the cloprostenols and oxytocin injection to farrowing interval, expulsion interval and farrowing duration. In conclusion, the present results demonstrate that half dose of D-cloprostenol (37.5 μg) and cloprostenol (87.5 μg) administered into the perivulva region is effective for inducing farrowing as the full recommended dose administered into the neck region (IM) and with no restless behavior.