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Industry Partners
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.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Retrofitting for Group Housing
Posted in: Economics, Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on March 27, 2014 | No Comments
Group housing will soon be required in barns, but many Quebec producers have not made plans to invest in the transition. Many producers plan to sell or close due mostly to the expense, but the producers that have transitioned and generally happy with their new system. Agri-Marché is one company that has decided to transition all of the sites connected to their network over to group housing. They have already transition two sites: one to a floor feeding system, and the other to an ESF system. The first site was a multiplication unit that raised only gilts, and is over 30 years old. It was transitioned over to a farrowing unit, and the number of sows was increased from 250 to 640, and cost per head was $640. The second site was newer (1999), and was transitioned to a batch farrowing unit. The use of panels allowed the original flooring to be kept (1/3 solid, 2/3 slatted), and the ESF to be used despite the different dimensions of the pens. The sow herd increased from 250 to 850 sows, and the cost per head was $380. Both projects had their advantages and disadvantages, but can both be an example of modifying existing barns to fit the new regulations.
Converting to Group Sow Housing – Decisions to Consider
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Legislation, consumers, and retailers have increased pressure for producers to transition to group sow housing. Some of the considerations of the transition include whether to use existing space or expand the barn, where the financial resources will come from, which feeding system to use, what will be the space allocation per sow, how many sows per pen, what management and employee training changes are needed, and how will productivity be affected. The financial costs of transitioning will be both the capital investment, and probably a reduction in profits during and immediately after construction. The feeding and housing system will require deciding on a competitive or non-competitive feeding system. The decision will depend on costs, management strategy, and how much control over feed portion the producer would like. Most barns will require additional space or fewer sows when transitioning from stalls to group housing. If it is decided to reduce the sow herd, the lactation and finishing lengths can be extended to produce fewer, but heavier, market pigs. Barn additions will allow sow numbers to stay the same and will not disrupt production during construction, but likely is more expensive. Design specifications will involve deciding space allocations, group size, and number of pens. Management and employee training changes will have to involve the feeding system, time management, observation skills, and treatments. Production levels can be maintained in group housing, but producers should be prepared for a dip due to a potential increase in culling and an adaption period for employees and animals. Researching the various systems and planning can help the transition to group housing go smoothly and with less disruption to production.
Reproductive Problem Solving in Gilts
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Optimizing gilt reproduction involves selecting the best gilts to breed, feeding strategies in gilt development, acclimatizing the gilt into the sow herd, boar exposure, the age of breeding, the breeding strategy, maintaining body condition through gestation, and managing her first litter.
Challenges Associated with Reproductive Failure in Sows
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Reproductive performance in sows can be impeded by sub-optimal management or by disease challenges. Synchronizing estrus in a group of sows makes management easier. Weaning of sows should naturally synchronize sows, but delays or failures to return can occur due to environmental, management, or genetic variables. Some of the pharmaceutical methods to control estrus are administering PG600 on the first day after weaning, feeding Matrix® for 7 days after weaning, or Ovugel® 24 hours before inseminating. Feed intake during lactation is also a factor in returning to estrus. Four basic feed intake patterns are increasing throughout, low throughout, initially low then gradually increasing, and initially increasing then dropping off. The last three patterns have more problems returning to estrus than the first, and a rapid drop off in feed intake is often seen in primiparous sows. There are multiple diseases that can impact reproductive performance, and can cause an increase in mummies, stillborns, and/or abortions. Finally, management can affect reproductive performans. For example, a sow has discharge and a return to estrus after breeding has often been bred post-ovulation, and the uterus is susceptible to infection at this time. A combination of lactation feeding, disease control, and management strategies can reduce problems associated with reproductive performance, and pharmaceuticals can be a useful tool as well.
Managing Dynamic Sow Grouping System
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The introduction for Doug Ahrens workshop on group housed sow management at the London Swine Conference, 2014.
Sow Health: Impacts and Challenges
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The introduction to a London Swine Conference, 2014 workshop on sow health.
Success with Group Housing
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Housing sows in groups requires different management strategies, but can create a better work environment for stockpeople, as well as increasing sow welfare. When switching to group housing, one of the major decisions is which feeding system to install. Feeding systems can be either competitive or non-competitive. For competitive systems, smaller groups with sows of similar size and body condition score should be used, and any drop-out sows relocated to a different area. Non-competitive feeding systems can use larger, more diverse groups, and ESF systems require the sows and new gilts to be trained. Some aggression can occur in groups, especially when sows are mixed for the first time. Pen design, gilt development management, and genetics can all affect how much aggression will be shown by sows. Competitive feeding systems generally have higher aggression, so new sows should be added as a subgroup. Sows should be grouped by size and age, and first parity sows can be grouped together. If a sow is being persistently aggressive, she can be isolated. Sows often become easier to handle when housed in groups, but having stockpeople that are attentive, observant, and caring is important. Often stockpeople have a positive experience with group handling because there is an increased opportunity for positive animal interaction, and watching natural sow behaviour can be informative for understanding the animals.
Lactation Success
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Hyperprolific sows are required to produce more milk to achieve good piglet growth rate, and one of the determinants of milk yield is mammary development. Mammary development occurs during 3 months of age until puberty, the end third of gestation, and lactation. Estrogen, prolactin, and relaxin are the hormones involved for gestational development, and prolactin injections given to gilts stimulated mammary development after puberty. Restricting gilt feed at 90 days until puberty reduced mammary development, but reduced protein during that time or restricting feed from day 28-90 had no effect. Feeding genistein or 10% flaxseed increased mammary development. Gestational diets that are high-energy low-protein reduce mammary development, but high protein diets can increase milk yield. lactation diets should be high in both energy and protein for high milk yield. As well, teats that are suckled during the first lactation will produce more milk for the second, which can be used to decide how many pigs to put on primiparous sows.
Lessons Learned from PEDv
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PEDv is an emerging virus that is expected to be a persistent problem into the future, so management strategies that work should be found and followed. Canada has managed to avoid most of the impact when compared to the USA, but biosecurity should continue to be a priority for producers. Surveillance of the virus at packers, in transport trailers, and in assembly lines allows the disease spread to be followed better than just on-farm occurrences. Industry-wide cooperation helps veterinarians to understand and reduce risks. Vigilance and biosecurity remain priorities, but containment strategies and communication should start to be focused on.
Group Sow Housing – the Facts
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When converting to group sow housing it is important that the environment provides good animal welfare, animal performance is maintained, and the transition is economically successful. The EU and four states have banned gestation stalls, and many retailers are pressuring producers to make plans to go stall free. Denmark and the Netherlands have both achieved high sow performance with group housing, and with proper management sow performance can be maintained except for a potential dip immediately after the transition. There are various systems available, and the four major points to consider when choosing a system are floor space allowance, feeding strategies, group mixing plans, and stockpeoples’ capabilities. Providing opportunities for sows to flee or avoid dominant sows can allow the group hierarchy to become established with less aggression and injuries. As well, using mixing strategies such as a mixing pen; sorting by size, parity, BCS, and gestational stage; and adding larger groups into a dynamic group can help reduce aggression. Temperament assessments may also help to form groups that will have less aggression. There are space guidelines for group housing, but actual space allowance should be based on behaviour, group size, and other pen features. The layout of the pen can be considered as the quality of space. There should be natural spaces for certain activities, and the layout should allow for walking and lying naturally. Space quality can be improved with dividers, environmental enrichment or bedding, and flooring type, as fully slatted floors can increase the incidences of lameness. In group housing, the stockpeople become more important for how well the system will work for production levels and sow wellbeing, and good, daily animal observations should be made. Overall, more research is needed to determine the optimum system for sow welfare and production, although the EU process of transitioning can offer valuable insights.