Growth performance and sperm quality of stress negative Piétrain boars and their hybrids with Duroc

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of genetic background and season on growth performance and semen quality of boars. Five genetic groups were evaluated, including stress-negative Piétrain boars with CC (PiCC) or CT (PiCT) halothane genotypes, and Piétrain x Duroc hybrid boars with various compositions (25% (PiDu25), 50% (PiDu50) or 75% (PiDu75) of Piétrain origin). The results showed that genetic group has a significant effect on growth performance and semen quality. The hybrid boars PiDu25, PiDu50 and PiDu75 had better growth rate, but lower lean
<br />meat in comparison with pure stress-negative Piétrain, except PiDu75 boars. PiDu25, PiDu50 and PiCC boars demonstrated high semen quality. A season effect was observed on most of semen quality traits of pure stress-negative Piétrain as well as hybrid boars with different genetic constitution. Sperm concentration was lower in Summer and Autumn, higher in Winter and Spring. The Piétrain x Duroc hybrid boars, especially PiDu75 seem to be promising as terminal boars.