Articles - Management

A large part of the work on a swine farm can be divided into 3 key tasks: weaning, mating and farrowing. The day chosen for weaning determines the other two tasks; first, the matings, and then, as a consequence, the farrowings (the 2 ‘great events’ of which productivity of a farm depends on).

In the last chapter we examined mating guidelines that came rather close to being ideal, given that they achieve the following objectives: At least one mating should be adjusted to meet the ideal time and achieve the first objective with the least number of matings.

The ideal mating guideline should follow 2 objectives: At least one mating should be adjusted to meet the ideal time and achieve the first objective with the least number of matings.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, theoretically, the ideal mating time is around 10-12 hours before ovulation.

The optimal fertilization of a sow depends on several factors, among them, mating in a specific moment of the oestrus.

As mentioned in the first chapter of planning weaning, after deciding which sows are going to be weaned, on weaning day we must take into account several factors...

In swine, dystocia is usually caused by oversized piglets (or by a narrow birth canal) instead of foetal positioning problems.

A correct supervision is one of the key points of a farrowing.

Deciding which sows are going to be weaned on weaning day is an important task that should be examined well.

In order to follow the evolution of the pigs at weaning and fattening, having a growth curve is very practical.

Adjustment of replacement on farms working on 3-week batch system.

In the last chapter we examined the advantages of positioning crates facing inwards and outwards. Now we are going to explore two other options: Aisles both in front and behind the crates and crates on both sides of the aisle.

Working with compound feeds allow to cover completely the animals' needs, taking full advantage of their use.

When designing farrowing rooms, sows can be placed in different ways: facing inwards, facing outwards, with aisles both in front and behind the crate, or on both sides of the aisle.

Next we will consider some aspects that can be taken into account in order to adjust the day to induce farrowing.

On many farms the introduction of gilts is not homogenous. However, the introduction of a similar number of gilts to each productive batch would be ideal. How can we do this?

The gestation period in the majority of sows is usually around 113 to 115 days. However, a percentage of sows can farrow normally up to 3 days before or after.

In order to try to control the environment, it is important: - Be able to evaluate it. - Be familiar with the needs of different types of animals. - Implement corrective measures to adapt to those needs.

Another convenient option for controlling the replacement entry is to incorporate the information on the breeding chart.

In the previous chapter we began to describe several systems for recording clearly and quickly the dates that gilts come into heat and for planning gilt service.

Man is possibly the only animal capable of living in practically all places in the world, regardless of the climate. This is due to his capacity to construct buildings to isolate himself from the climate however extreme it may be, maintaining an environment which allows him to survive. As domestic animals live together with man, they have to take advantage indirectly of this capacity.

In previous chapters we have looked at the importance of maintaining the ideal parity profile within each batch.

In the last chapter we looked at the importance of achieving homogenous farrowing batches (age distribution + nº sows). In this chapter we will begin to see how to achieve this.

We have already seen that in order to achieve a correct parity structure and homogeneity of the production batches, it is necessary to control the number of replacement gilts entering the herd.