Page 20 of articles about management in Articles

The productive and behavioral results found in this study suggest that GRH immunization is an alternative to surgical castration.

In the last decades the degree of technification and evolution of the productive systems at all levels has been constant.

On large farms, it is common to wean more than once per week. This way, tasks can be homogenized throughout the week: each day will have a similar volume of work as the previous day.

A large part of the work on a swine farm can be divided into 3 key tasks: weaning, mating and farrowing. The day chosen for weaning determines the other two tasks; first, the matings, and then, as a consequence, the farrowings (the 2 ‘great events’ of which productivity of a farm depends on).

In the last chapter we examined mating guidelines that came rather close to being ideal, given that they achieve the following objectives: At least one mating should be adjusted to meet the ideal time and achieve the first objective with the least number of matings.

Without adding more space, the only way to accommodate an increase in weaning age is to decrease the breeding herd inventory.

The ideal mating guideline should follow 2 objectives: At least one mating should be adjusted to meet the ideal time and achieve the first objective with the least number of matings.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, theoretically, the ideal mating time is around 10-12 hours before ovulation.

As we discovered in the last chapter, there are no “traditional” BM systems lasting over one week that allow for weaning at 28 days with a 5-week rotation time. However, breaking with the theoretical norms, we can wean at 28 days when working with batches every 5 weeks.

The optimal fertilization of a sow depends on several factors, among them, mating in a specific moment of the oestrus.

As mentioned in the first chapter of planning weaning, after deciding which sows are going to be weaned, on weaning day we must take into account several factors...

What level of welfare needs to be applied in the case of sows housed in groups, and fed dry feed?

During the last 10 years we have been trying to optimize the different Batch Management systems (BM), searching for the most effective system. We had come to the conclusion that each one of the different traditional BM options had their pros and cons, and neither is better or worse than the other. Electing the best system depends on the necessities and the calibration of space on each particular farm. However, we have recently “discovered” a new BM option that opens the door to new possibilities.

In swine, dystocia is usually caused by oversized piglets (or by a narrow birth canal) instead of foetal positioning problems.

A correct supervision is one of the key points of a farrowing.

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