Page 5 of articles about AI - artificial insemination in Articles

Let us assume that the expected farrowing rate and live-born litter sizes are 90% and 12.5, respectively, but that current performance is 82% and 11.3, respectively. This means that too many sows are bred but failing to farrow and those that farrow are having fewer pigs.

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

Despite its scarce use in commercial artificial insemination programs (used only in 1% of all inseminated sows) nowadays no one questions the sanitary, economic, and productive advantages of cryogenically preserved semen with respect to fresh or refrigerated semen.

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

When fresh or refrigerated semen is used in countryside conditions, the number of spermatozoa and the volume of the dose using PCI can diminish

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.

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.

When external administration of the hormonal product is stopped, the levels of progesterone fall.

In the first part of management of the breeding chart we basically looked at how it can help us to control returns. In this second part we will look at other applications.

The mating and control unit is one of the most important elements of a sow unit. Thus, it must facilitate a high pregnancy rate, high number of piglets, uniform body condition, sow longevity and a low return rate.

So far we have seen different options for retaining the males and for stimulating the stalled sows that maximize speed and stimulus. Once stimulated, now we are going to mate them.

Different systems of boar’s retention during stimulation and mating in stalls have already been seen. Now we are going to put it into practice.

Both for heat detection and for mating, maximum efficiency is achieved if the sow is well stimulated.

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.