As the pork industry strives to increase productivity in the form of more total pigs born, more attention must be focused on saving more quality pigs, emphasizes Tom Gillespie, DVM. Rensselaer (IN) Swine Services. More producers are striving and achieving 13-14 total liveborn pig/litter averages. But along with those double digit farrowing numbers come double digit pig preweaning losses. While not easy, Gillespie demonstrates in Figure 1 (page 19) how a
select group of producers representing 8,000 sows managed to take total pigs born per litter from 11.5 to over 13
across a 15-year period. At the same time, average preweaning mortality was kept at or below a very respectable
7%, and just 5% for 2007 and 2008.