Sow management critical to reducing pre-weaning mortality rates

Because newborn pigs are the future of any farrow-to-wean/finish operation, cases of pre-weaning mortality can be detrimental to an operation’s long-term bottom line, according to Purina Animal Nutrition LLC. Providing proper care and nutrition to sows during the gestation and farrowing periods plays a significant role in promoting litter performance.
According to current industry estimates, 12.9 percent of pigs born live die prior to weaning. To decrease pre-weaning mortality rates, producers should prepare their sows for the next lactation before they enter the farrowing room.
Dan McManus, DVM, swine nutrition specialist for Purina Animal Nutrition, said a healthy litter resulted from the overall care provided to the sow during gestation. After a sow weans a litter, nutritional energy supports piglet growth in-utero as well as the rebuilding of the sow’s body condition. Because sows require significant nutrients during this period, McManus said he encouraged producers to feed ad libitum rations to sows post-weaning. In his experience, he said, these sows will be able to consume approximately six pounds of feed per sow per day.
“Proper nutrient levels are crucial during this period,” said McManus. “The gestation ration sets the sow up for her next lactation and determines the level of litter growth in-utero.”
The length of gestation also impacts litter health and the probability of full potential pigs (pigs that reach eight or more pounds at weaning) produced by each sow. McManus said he encouraged producers who induce labor to not do so until day 116 of gestation. A suitable gestation period can promote heavier birthweights.
“Most of today’s genetics will average 116 days of gestation length,” he said. “Allowing pigs to stay in the sow to that point will improve birthweight, as pigs grow between 0.1 and 0.2 pounds per head per day in the sow the last week of gestation. Secondly, colostrum antibodies will increase in the sow as gestation length goes from day 113 to 116.”
Colostrum antibodies are important, according to Purina, because high-quality colostrum provides newborn pigs with immune protection. Pigs that receive adequate levels of high-quality colostrum will also better transition into the feeding period. Many farms are now providing 24-hour care in the farrowing rooms to ensure that each piglet receives colostrum and gets off to a good start.
In addition to the power of quality colostrum, McManus said he has found that sanitation of the farrowing facility and herd management enhances herd health. “Most farms with low pre-wean mortality practice strict all-in all-out production in their farrowing rooms and never move older pigs back into rooms with younger pigs,” he said. “These producers have excellent cleaning, disinfection and sanitation practices so pregnant animals arrive to a farrowing room environment with minimal stress.”
McManus said that producing healthy pigs that have the ability to reach their full potential at weaning requires a complete management strategy. “Healthy litters begin with proper sow management and quality nutrition programs in gestation,” he said. “Proper management and quality rations must then continue through lactation.”

Summer sow management critical to maintaining productivity

As temperatures rise in the summer months, proper sow management is critical as producers work to achieve 30 pigs per sow per year, as reduced feed intake caused from heat stress directly diminishes sow body condition and rebreeding success.
Dr. Gawain Willis, director of nutritional services for Land O’Lakes Purina Feed LLC, said that elevated ambient temperatures make achieving high feed intake in lactation a real management challenge. “If sows do not maintain high nutrient intake, they will lose too much weight in lactation and may fail to rebreed quickly,” said Willis. “This can lead to high sow culling rates, which can mean too many sows are culled before they return sufficient income to cover their original investment costs. If sows that lose too much weight do breed back on time, future litter size may be compromised.”
Added attention to temperature control in facilities can help manage these challenges, and sow feed intake can be also maintained by adjusting the ration. Willis said he recommends decreasing the fiber content of the ration and/or increasing levels of added fat. These two ration changes lower the heat produced by the sow during digestion, thus lowering her body temperature and the amount of heat she has to dissipate and helping to maintain consumption. Heat stress can also be prevented by routinely feeding sows during the coolest parts of the day. “Make sure sows are full-fed and that they have feed available from late evening to early morning,” said Willis, adding that sow movement should be avoided during the day. “Sows are most effective in dissipating heat during overnight hours when the air is cooler.”

Topigs reaches 28.8 weaned piglets per sow in 2011

Pig farms with Topigs sows produced an average of 28.8 weaned piglets per sow per year in 2011, according to the company's latest report — the technical results from 678 Dutch farms with a total of almost 332,0000 sows.
The top 10 percent of farms achieved 31.6 weaned piglets per sow per year. In 2011 the production of Topigs sows rose by 0.7 piglets. This is a bigger increase than in previous years where the average was 0.5 piglets per year, according to company data. Despite the increase in production, piglet mortality remains at roughly the same level as several years ago, and the sow replacement rate has not risen, either.
A growing number of farms are weaning 30 or more piglets per sow per year. In 2011 a total of 164 farms achieved this and 16 farms achieved a production of 32 or more piglets per sow per year. 

Spanish pig farmers call for delay in welfare rules

Pig producers in Spain's Catalunya region have called for a delay to the implementation of new animal welfare rules, due to be introduced by the European Union on January 1, 2013.
The new welfare rules will see gestation stalls banned and will require sows to be group housed at a minimum from week four post-service until day seven pre-farrow, but Spain’s farmers say that with their current financial difficulties, compliance with the new measures would make pig production unviable.

JSR Genetics Ltd enters China deal

UK-based pig breeding company JSR Genetics will build and stock a 900 sow nucleus in Hubei province of China in a new joint venture with Hubei Liangyou Livestock and Poultry Company Limited. The Hubei Liangyou JSR Breeding Limited project is expected to be completed by December 2010, and includes shipment of dam lines and sire lines.
The venture expects to produce its first breeding stock by the end of 2011, and anticipates increasing pig production. Hubei employees will train for three months in the UK, and JSR will supply a farm manger and genetic database software to the project. JSR Genetics Ltd is part of the JSR Farming Group.

Sow numbers bounce back in the United Kingdom

Speaking at a market outlook conference held in London by the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board, a leading pork analyst forecasted a recovery in the size of the UK pig breeding herd.
The national herd at the end of 2008 contained only 427,000 sows, said James Park, senior analyst with BPEX, the country’s levy-funded pork industry association. There was a small increase to 438,000 in 2009, and the latest expectation is that the United Kingdom will have 460,000 sows by the end of 2010 and 465,000 sows in 2011.
Continued improvements in productivity are expected to translate this expansion into a rise in annual slaughter pig production from 8.8 million pigs in 2009 to 9 million in 2010 and 9.7 million next year. The average carcass weight per pig has risen from 76.6 kilograms in 2008 to 78.1 kilograms in 2009. It is now predicted to become 78.9 kilograms this year and again in 2011, taking the United Kingdom’s total production of pig meat to 741,000 metric tons in 2010 and 794,000 metric tons in 2011, from a level in 2009 now put at 720,000 metric tons.