20.500.12556/RUL-113526 Influence of housing conditions on reliability of immunocastration and consequences for growth performance of male pigs Immunocastration is a sustainable alternative to piglet castration but faces limited market acceptance. The phenomenon of non-responders has not to date been examined in detail, but adverse and stressful housing conditions (e.g., mixing of groups) might impair the success of vaccinations. Therefore, we evaluated the influence of housing conditions on the immune response after two Improvac$^®$ vaccinations at an age of 12 and 22 weeks, respectively. Boars, immunocastrates and barrows (n = 48 each) were assigned to three different housing conditions (n = 36 enriched, n = 36 standard n = 72 repeated social mixing). Immune response was quantified by measuring GnRH-binding and its consequences for testosterone concentrations, development of the genital tract and boar taint. Growth performance was evaluated via average daily gain (ADG). GnRH-binding and testosterone levels revealed that immunocastration reliably suppressed testicular functions after the 2nd vaccination. Housing conditions did not modify testicular function but influenced ADG as animals under mixing grew slower than those under enriched conditions. Gonadal status had only a slight impact on ADG except in immunocastrates, which showed a temporarily higher ADG after the 2nd vaccination. The results show that immunocastration is a reliable procedure under different housing conditions and competitive in terms of growth performance. immunocastration vaccination Improvac non-responders immune response housing conditions surgical castration boar taint growth performance genital tract gonadotropin-releasing hormone castration pork meat housing swine true false true Angleški jezik Ni določen Članek v reviji 2020-01-16 10:25:12 2020-01-16 10:25:12 2025-04-25 12:03:40 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2020 0 0 16 str. iss. 1, art. 27 Vol. 10 2020 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 636.4.09:616 2076-2615 10.3390/ani10010027 4915578 519120409 animals-10-00027_(1).pdf animals-10-00027_(1).pdf 1 13C1F9EEBFD1AE2DCFDB39E13FEAB9C4 027c2c916f041e31dac94733b9cd3504f2c9563d9400eaf498bc24fc6b17f01d 468865a9-1b71-11f0-b232-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=208658 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/1/27 0 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=125618 Veterinarska fakulteta 0 0 0