Reproductive management: Puberty induction
Why induce puberty? If I do choose to induce puberty, what do I need to do, and when?
articles about anestrus
The impact of bump feeding on sow reproductive performance, milk yield, piglet birth weight, and farrowing behavior
Increasing feed intake during late gestation may improve sow and litter performance.
Reproductive performance of gilts and weaned sows grouped at different days after insemination
Group housing gestating sows 2 days after breeding compromised litter size; however, mixing gilts on days 1 to 4 after breeding did not impair reproductive performance.
Heat stress affects the sows' reproductive cycle
From their respective academic and on-farm perspectives, Josep Gasa and Josep Casanovas comment on a recent study regarding the effect of heat stress on sows: Which weeks does it affect the farrowing rate the most? What about the weaning-to-first-service interval? Are there differences depending on parity?
Clinical case: Gilts not coming into heat
Since 2017 the number of gilts coming into heat (with standing reflex) has gradually fallen to levels less than 50-60% of the gilts ready to be inseminated...
Anestrus in multiparous sows
When multiparous sows are affected, not as many need to be culled as in the case of gilts (which we saw in the last article). Generally sows will eventually show signs of heat, but with a considerable delay compared to a normal heat.
Anestrus in gilts
Lack of estrus in gilts is a common cause for culling, which increases the need for gilts and the cost of gilts. Let's take a look a what causes anestrus:
Analysis of steroids in gilt saliva to identify biomarkers of the period of receptivity
The objective of this study was to develop alternatives to hormonal treatments to synchronize oestrus of gilts.
Factors for improving reproductive performance of sows and herd productivity in commercial breeding herds
We review critical factors associated with reproductive performance of female breeding pigs, their lifetime performance and herd productivity in commercial herds. The factors include both sow-level and herd-level factors.
Use of altrenogest on pig farm
The shorter and lower dose regime saves money but there is an increased risk of follicular cyst development, which may occur at doses below 13mg/day.
Thompson’s tip: Provide cover for summer infertility
Many pig producers will be taking in batches of replacement gilts in split weights.
Anoestrus upon weaning
Short weaning to service interval isn’t always a synonym for good management, since we have to take into consideration not only average number of days, but also the effect on the percentage of distribution after returns.
Hormone management (II)
When the sow is pregnant, the corpus luteum remains and continues to produce progesterone. While the levels of progesterone are high the sow does not become in heat and maintains gestation.
Seasonal Infertility in Swine
In natural conditions, there are seasonal fluctuations of availability of food and the earliness or delay in the onset of breeding is related to food levels.