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Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
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Gilt Development Setting up the Breeding Herd -Banff 2016
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on May 3, 2017
Dr. Rob Knox goes over some of the key factors regarding proper gilt development.
Health:
New animals pose the greatest risk of disease introduction, limiting gilt entry frequency, health testing the source herd, biosecurity and sufficient time for isolation and acclimation can prevent bringing new diseases to your barn.
Selection:
Selection for longevity leads to greater fertility, immune status and mothering ability.
Housing and environment:
Relevant factors may include animal space, number per pen, type of feeding system, lighting, temperature, air quality, housing system, season and climate. Studies suggest that controlling group size and floor space at certain times may improve lifetime fertility.
Diet and feeding for growth and development:
Limiting growth by restricting feed access may be needed to avoid gilts being far above the desired weight and condition at time of breeding and farrowing. It appears that energy restriction in late development is needed for fast growing gilts and, if applied properly, should have few long term consequences.
Puberty induction:
Factors affecting the response of gilts to boar exposure include age at start of exposure, regrouping and boar-to-gilt ratio. In general, exposure will induce 70-90% of gilts within a specific period of time.
Gilt Development Setting up the Breeding Herd -Banff 2016