Page 3 of articles about sow in Articles

Understanding the farrowing process and recognizing the signs for the different stages of birth, help us to develop management plans to improve the likelihood for live born piglets.

The ban on the use of zinc oxide starting June 2022 makes it necessary to review and improve many aspects of weaning, especially in its early stages. With Alberto García and Chretien Gielen we address key management points for successful weaning without the use of zinc oxide.

We describe the main alternative systems to farrowing crates for sows, from zero confinement to temporary restraint.

We continue our comparison of production data between sow farms in Spain and the United States. This time we focus on replacement rate, pre-weaning mortality, and weaning weight.

Europe is preparing to eliminate farrowing crates in the next few years... Are farmers ready? Will this benefit the sows? What about the piglets?

Here's how ultrasound can be used to visualize ovarian structures, assess the state of puberty, and diagnose ovarian pathologies.

If my farrowing rate is low but I don't have empty sows or abortions, I must consider the culled pregnant sows.

The most frequent problems are reproductive and locomotive. What should I do if the percent among sows serviced is greater than 2%?

What should I do if the percentage of empty sows among the sows serviced is greater than 1%?

In a series of seven articles we have discussed with four prestigious veterinarians the different aspects of neonatal diarrhea: infection, nutrition, management, environment, etc. We couldn't end this series without specifically addressing how to manage treatment.

To conclude this series of articles, swine reproduction and artificial insemination specialist Javier Gil explains the importance of proper post-service management in terms of when to move sows and how to feed them.

In our series on neonatal diarrhea we must include a discussion on how sow feeding plays a role.

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...

What can I do if the abortion rate is greater than 2% and the abortions are concentrated around a specific time of year? How can I combat seasonal abortions?

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.

Why are there more abortions occurring in first parity sows?