M.A. de Andrés

Graph 1. Distribution of the WSI in 2017

Weaning-to-service interval: not only non-productive days

It is not only related to NPDs, but it can also have a greater impact than we first thought.

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Piglets weaned per sow lifetime, the hidden index

One of the indices that is generating much interest is the one referred to the number of weaned piglets per sow lifetime (WSL). This index refers to the total number of piglets that a sow has weaned throughout its productive life.

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01-Mar-2019tomi-olatundevery accurate write-up. Can't be clearer. Production figures can be deceitful sometimes. It is practically the output per housed gilt/sow which practically measures the farm output in piglets actually sold, Return on investment of each housed gilt/sow. There is more to this, like piglet birth weight, weight at 21 days, weight at 25 days, investment in piglet( time & money) till these ages, actual age @ 25 kg live weight of piglet.

Figure 3. Images of weighings at farrowing and differences in size within the same litter.

Are all non-viable piglets, really not viable?

There are casualties in the farrowing unit due to poor colostrum intake but, how many are there really? Are they just being classified as non-viable piglets?

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Graph 1. Production throughout the lifetime of the sow according to piglets born.

How can farm production be increased with the use of Supersows?

The key lies in gilt management ...

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Figures 5. Breakdown of returns of sows transitioning to a weekly farrowing.

Clinical case: Increase of returns: Management or PRRS?

Returns increase in a PRRS-positive farm in the middle of a census increase plus a change of management in the batch farrowing system, from 3 weeks to 1.

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Facilities-Equipment Article

Photo 1. Difference of lighting in gestation barn before and after the installation of an extra lighting system.

The importance of lighting in your farm

One of the main tools to encourage the installation of extra lighting in the mating area is the data analysis, and more specifically the weaning-to-service interval.

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24-Mar-2018jungjoon26Thank you for good information.

Temporary nurse sows: How to increase the number of teats on batch farrowing systems

The article explains how to manage nurse sows in 3-week batch farrowing systems with a practical example.

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I didn’t change anything. Why did my productivity go down?

When productivity decreases, but productive efficiency is maintained...

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The ideal sow herd structure does not have a triangular shape any more

Traditional culling policies have a threshold number of farrowings after which sows are culled —after weaning. But, what would happen if this policy were to be modified to actually consider the performance of each sow?

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08-Dec-2017Marcelo PeterI love these article, i was upset with my veterinary officer who failed to offer me such an advice when i had challenges of feeds, mastitis and too many sows on the farm.
I just have all my answers well articulated here.
Thanks to these teams for shining this bright lights.

Graph 1. Percentage of culled sows per cycle (number of sows culled per cycle/ average census per cycle) in 2016

How to reduce the replacement rate and have a better parity distribution

Minimizing sow losses in the initial cycles has three positive effects for the economic efficiency of the farm

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Graph 3: Average number of stillborn piglets according to parity for litters of less than 13, between 13 and 16 or more than 16 Total Born piglets. Analysis of 93.896 farrowings from hyperprolific sows recorded from October 14 to September 16

Hyperprolific? Yes, but not so much

Sows with more than 16 piglets Total Born (TB) per litter have twice as many stillbirths (SB) as those with 13 to 16 TB litters, and three times more SB than sows farrowing litters smaller than 13 TB.

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Graphic 1.- Example of 4WBF farm: planning of return sow mating by use of hormones. Average return interval 51,6 days

4 week batch farrowing: another option for small farms

This article discusses 4-week batch farrowing (4WBF), very common in small farms (250 sows) in some other countries, including France. Analysis will be based on a comparison with 3-week batch farrowing (3WBF).

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11-Nov-2017houxiaoshe飞非常好，我想知道，对于返情的母猪，您是如何使用激素控制的？时间的时间、剂量、及停药日期？

Evolution of the distribution of pre-weaning mortality depending on the age at death in the last ten years.

"Ghost sows" and the other 8 most frequent errors when processing data (2/2)

This second part deals with the problems caused by not recording properly the cause of abortions, sows and piglets deaths, nurse sows and hormonal treatments.

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15-Nov-2016Allan Schinckel good article - mistakes that are easily done - and impact the records.

"Ghost sows" and the other 8 most frequent errors when processing data (1/2)

This first part deals with backward and impossible data, i.e. the sows that are no longer in the farm but still appear both in the management softwatre and the 100% delivery rates in gilts.

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Distribution of leg injuries in a given farm

Lameness blindness (2/2)

The number of sows that suffer some kind of leg injury is much higher than is apparent, and even more so in second farrowings.

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