Replacement gilts are important in any herd because they determine the future productivity of the herd. Today the visual selection criteria used may not be the best indicator of reproductive potential. The aim of this paper is to introduce some relatively new management techniques for gilt development. It is important to maintain health during ovarian development at the piglet stage. In piglets that exhibit diarrhea, age at puberty is unaffected for the most part, but the proportion of gilts exhibiting puberty, farrowing rates, and number of pigs born alive are consistently lower. At the nursery stage, growth of specialized glands from uterine tissue must be maximized. First off, sows must not be exposed to estrogen-containing mycotoxins in feed. This results in poor embryonic survival of the replacement gilts coming from that sow. Replacement gilts cannot be crowded or there will be detrimental effects on weight of ovulation and born alives.

The first lactation is widely agreed as the most important time of a gilts reproductive life. The number and size of piglets nursing have a direct effect on the amount of milk produced, and the amount of milk produced is directly related to the weaning weight. Analysis can be done on a per farm basis to determine the amount of piglets the average gilt can rear without experiencing a reduction in subsequent breeding performance.

If gilts fail to reach a timely first estrus, work should be done to ensure that future gilts experience minimal environmental stresses, minimal competition with pen mates, and minimize lactation stress by reducing the number of nursing pigs.