Articles - Management

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.

The aim of this trick is to identify quickly and practically, the age of piglets and pigs just by looking at the color of their ear tag.

It would be so nice if the sows could warn us when there are problems when they are giving birth to their piglets during labour! This seems impossible… Or maybe it is not so.

The goal is that the sows always have access to a good amount of fresh drinking water in the farrowing quarters.

In the previous chapter we saw how level litters by size. Now we will see how to do it by number.

In the previous chapter we discussed the ideal time to level out litters of newborn piglets. Here's how to do it.

With the high prolificacy of sows nowadays, leveling out litters is one of the most hands-on jobs on the farms of today. It is one of the first steps to start lactation successfully.

We have seen the importance of obtaining a sufficient dose of quality colostrum to generate the newborn’s defenses as well as the conflict that this can suppose when we level the litters after birth. Now lets take a look at the importance of rapidly obtaining colostrum and milk to ensure energy supply and minimize temperature loss.

The ingestion of Ig in sufficient quantity is the first priority. So much so that it even comes before the factor that seems most important: the feed supply.

What if we were to wean on Friday and were able to block farrowings for 2 days? The bulk of farrowings would be concentrated on Monday.

Production manuals and legislation often give recommendations as to the minimum space requirements for each type of animal. There are many sources where we can find information about the minimum requirements to ensure animal comfort. But, what is the optimal number of animals to put in a pen? Is there a magic number? There is not as much documentation on this topic.

Long farrowings increase mortality, and deaths occur above all in the last 1/3 of the delivery.

The dispersion of matings described in the previous article is even more drastic on farms operating in bands over one week.

When gilts were mated at a little more than 100 kg, productivity at 2nd parity had a huge decline and the sow was never able to reach their maximum potential.

In the last chapter on hormone management we looked at the advantages of “a la carte” altrenogest treatment as opposed to the 18 day treatment used to synchronize gilts.

Wouldn’t it be great if all the sows on a farm (weaned sows, gilts, repeat breeders…) could be mated on the same day?! And if we were able to choose, on Mondays?

It is not possible to compare the consumption of antimicrobials in Denmark with very many other countries, because almost none have a detailed registration on their use of antibiotics for the treatment of livestock. However, among those who collect such data, Denmark has one of the lowest levels of veterinary antibiotic use.

In this chapter the use of progesterone derivatives to modify the duration of estrus in sows is explained.

A good result in stillbirths is difficult to achieve without inducing farrowings.

The farm, with an elevated number of animals, had been experiencing for several days an increased number of births in gestation on the weekend before moving the sows to the farrowing pens. Mortality in these births was 100%.

In this chapter we will present the farrowing stages and how to control it.

Loading pigs is a task that, unfortunately, we give little importance to. We don’t usually realize that loosing something at this point is tantamount to losing a year’s worth of work, and worse yet is the economic loss.

In this chapter we will consider the benefits of closed nests and the importance of temperature regulation according to the age of the piglets.

In this chapter we will take a look at the use of heat lamps and how to distribute heat inside the pen.