# Use of Caffeine and Inducing Parturition with Dual Administration of Prostaglandin F2α in Gilts and Its Effect on Neonatal Vitality and Performance at Birth

## TL;DR

This study shows that giving caffeine to gilts along with a split dose of prostaglandin reduces farrowing time and improves piglet health and survival.

## Contribution

The novel approach combines caffeine with split-dose PGF2α to enhance neonatal vitality and reduce mortality in piglets from gilts.

## Key findings

- Split-dose PGF2α reduced farrowing duration by 100 minutes compared to full-dose PGF2α.
- Caffeine improved piglet performance metrics like oxygen saturation, glucose, and weight.
- The PGF2α split-dose plus caffeine group showed the best neonatal outcomes.

## Abstract

Currently, one of the problems that most affects swine production is neonatal mortality, a problem that is more intense in gilts. Seeking to implement treatments applicable in swine production at a commercial level, caffeine has been selected as a neonatal stimulant to reduce piglet mortality. However, one of the most common practices in swine production that cannot be ignored is the induction of parturition. Therefore, caffeine has been combined with two induction techniques, the full dosing of prostaglandins F2alpha and the same dose divided into two applications. The split-dose induction technique reduced the duration of farrowing by 100 min while the application of caffeine positively affected the piglets which presented the best values for the indicators of the neonate performance, metabolic variables, the surface temperature at 24 h, and weight at 21 days. Our experiment’s results showed that using caffeine with PGF2alpha to induce farrowing, combined with the split-dose technique, improves the performance and metabolic variables of piglets born to gilts, which would contribute to increased survival as well as animal welfare in farm.

One of the principal problems in swine production is neonatal mortality, especially in primiparous sows. Caffeine has been shown to be an efficacious neonatal stimulant that reduces mortality while improving key metabolic indicators associated with hypoxic processes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of inducing parturition with a full dose (FD) (175 μg) or split dose (SD) (87.5 + 87.5 μg) of cloprostenol (PGF2α), with and without the administration of a single dose of caffeine (420 mg), on the vitality, clinical status, surface temperature, and weight at weaning of neonate pigs. In this experiment, the duration of farrowing was affected by the induction technique, as the PGF2α SD and PGF2α SD + caffeine treatment groups reduced this time by as much as 100 min compared to PGF2α FD and PGF2α FD + caffeine. The groups that received caffeine presented the best values for the indicators of the neonate performance, peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2), glucose, surface temperature at 24 h, and weight at 21 days, especially the PGF2α SD + caffeine group. PGF2α FD had the lowest neonate performance and metabolic variables. Inducing birth with PGF2α SD is more efficient, and adding caffeine improves the performance and metabolic variables of piglets born from primiparous sows.