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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.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Repeatability of Litter Size in the Sow Population
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on March 28, 2013 | No Comments
Litters with a low birth weight phenotype present have decreased growth, increased mortality, and more variation in market weight pigs. A statistical analysis of 8,000 parity records at a facility found that if sows have low birth weight litters up to parity 3, then they will likely continue to do so. As well, sows with high birth weight litters up to parity 3 will likely continue to do so in later parities. This information is useful when deciding when to cull sows, and when managing sows (ie expected low birth weight sows could be put into the same farrowing room).
Top Profit Robbers In a Sow Farm
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Some of the biggest financial wastes can come from sow feeding, semen management, and gilt attrition. In order to maintain income production goals should be long term, such as pigs weaned/sow/year, but also maintain a consistent pig flow. Adequate sow nutrition is necessary for good farrowing results, but overfeeding of sows can be a major cost. Feed amount should be based on the parity and body condition score of a sow, and providing body condition diagrams to staff can help provide accurate assessments. Feed use should be monitored, and correct amounts going to the right animal to reduce body condition variability in a herd. Proper semen management is important to make sure the correct amount is ordered to avoid waste, and this can be done by tracking the number of doses used and ordered per month. Being able to keep gilts for more parities will result in a lower herd turnover, and reduced costs. Producers should aim for 93-95% of gilts having a first litter, and 80% having a third litter. Good gilt management strategies include not breeding before a minimum size, waiting until second heat to breed, and maintaining gilt condition throughout farrowing. Finally, maintaining consistent output by good management of the sow herd is important to provide income.
Pioneering New Performance Indicators
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Sow performance can be evaluated many different ways, but some of the key performance indicators are farrowing rate, total born and total born alive, pigs weaned per sow, piglet survivability, and pigs weaned per mated female per year. Using the % of litters under 7 and above 12 are relatively new key performance indicators, and are useful for highlighting when a lot of litter variability is occurring. Litter size and litter variability often impact overall sow performance, and it is not always clear what is causing the variability. Having consistently large litter sizes will increase production, reduce work per sow (such as for fostering), and increased udder capacity in gilts. As well, more pigs weaned reduces the cost of lactation feed per pig.
A Genomic Future
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Traditional selection uses the phenotypes of animals to improve certain traits, but genomic selection allows improved selection by allowing less heritable and hard to measure traits to be quantified. The rate of breeding selection improvement varies with the accuracy of breeding values, selection intensity, genetic variability, and generation interval. Genomic selection uses SNPs as genetic markers, and a reference population has its phenotypes and genotypes associated with each other through the use of SNPs. By using a reference population with known breeding values, then genomic breeding values can be estimated with animals with unknown values. Genomic breeding values give individual values to each littermate rather than assigning the same value to the entire litter, and improves the genetic progress by 20-50%. As well, genomic selection can be used with current breeding programs. As the cost of genetic sequencing decreases the possibilities of commercial use of genomic selection will only increase.
What Are The Key Performance Indicators of the Future?
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Swine Management Services, LLC collects data from over 800 swine facilities of various sizes and types. SMS has used the data collected to analyze production level differences between top and average producers. The biological maximum for litters/mated sow/year is 2.6, and top producers achieve 2.5. The way for others producers to improve could include improving farrowing rates, heat checks after breeding, and pregnancy checks. The wean to 1st service interval can be reduced by increasing feed during lactation, and heat checking/boar exposure immediately after weaning. To improve farrowing rate the breeding technician should follow specific protocol, and the semen should be stored in proper conditions, with old semen being used first. Total born/female farrowed can be improved by waiting to breed gilts, increasing feed after farrowing, and reducing the wean to 1st service interval. Pre-weaning mortality can be reduced by having a farrowing technician perform duties including drying, split suckling, and euthanizing small piglets. Female deaths can be reduced by recognizing signs of illness or injury, and immediately treating. Any of the suggestions can be used to help increase production levels, and achieve results closer to top performing producers.
Preparing the Barn
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Preparing the barn should start with clearing of organic matter with water, and then a detergent or degreaser should be applied to remove biofilms. Biofilms can be organic or mineral: an acidic detergent will remove mineral biofilms and alkaline detergents will remove organic biofilms. An alkaline and acidic detergent can be alternated to remove both over two rotations. Next, the room should be allowed to completely dry and a disinfectant applied. If the disinfectant is potentially toxic the room may need to be rinsed before animals are moved in. The room should be allowed to completely dry before moving animals in, which can be aided by the use of ventilation or heat.
The Use of In-Feed Antibiotics in Quebec Pigs
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Quebec is a hog dense province, and the concern over the spread of communicable diseases like PRRSv lead to routine use of antibiotics in swine feed. Denmark has recently banned use of antibiotics for growth promotion, and has recorded the use of antibiotics per pig. No reportable data exist for antibiotic use per pig in Canada (or North America), and if antibiotic use is to be decreased a baseline should first be known.
Preparing the Barn: Stockmanship
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Stockpeople responsible for preparing the barn should be committed to doing a good job, and have pride in what they do. Three qualities of a good stockperson are leadership, a great attitude, and high standards. Preparing the barn is important to prevent disease transmission, which can later have production and economic impacts. Preparing the barn should involve cleaning, washing, disinfecting, and biofilm removal. It should follow the steps of cleaning with water, allowing to drip-dry, using an alkaline or acidic degreaser or detergent, allowing the room to dry, applying a disinfectant, allowing the room to fully dry, and only then moving animals into the room.
Animal Variation and the Derivation of Optimal Shipping Strategies for Finishing Pigs
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The difference between the average individual and the population mean response depends on the amount of genetic variation in a herd. For some matters, like nutrition, the difference can have a large impact on performance. Variation between animals can occur because of differences in genetic growth potential, starting weights, social interactions, and herd health status. This variation can affect how an animal responds to a stressful situation, for example, shipping. This study compared shipping strategies. The first strategy is to ship at a minimum weight of 120 kg, and the second is to ship at a minimum 123 kg after the first week of 120 kg. The results and further combinations will help to determine the ideal shipping pattern. The next part was a case study comparing a conventional shipping strategy to an alternative one. The alternative strategy shipped only twice: at 13 and 17 weeks. The alternative strategy resulted in higher feed costs, lower feed efficiency, lower transport costs, and more variation in weight. The ideal shipping strategy will depend on the farm, and how tight weight constraints are for market pigs.
In-Feed Antibiotics–Some of the Issues
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The prevalence of antibiotic resistance in human and veterinary medicine has called attention to the use of antimicrobials in livestock diets to improve growth. The majority of antimicrobial resistance is thought to originate from misuse in human and animal medicine. Although no studies currently link livestock feed antimicrobials with medicinal resistance, bans and restrictions are discussed, and sometimes implemented. A literature review provided only limited results for studies directly comparing low dose administration in feed and solely therapeutic use on the development of antimicrobial resistance. With the lack of evidence for the source of resistance, a conservative approach to the use of antimicrobials – especially as growth promoters – is likely to be taken by the US FDA. The use of antimicrobials will likely be limited in the future, but maintaining animals health (especially in weaner pigs) will hopefully permit the therapeutic use in food animals.