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Background Jul 27, 2016 2528 views 1 comment

There is so much more to know about

sows
Defining, collecting and analysing farm data can present endless opportunities. Not
only does it help to gain insight into how to improve farm management it also helps to
see correlations that otherwise would remain uncovered. Which are the quantities to
really look out for?
Commonly, the number of pigs weaned per sow per year (PWSY) is used as a
benchmarking measurement to compare the productivity of breeding herds amongst
each other. Usually, one component of PWSY receiving a lot of focus is the number of
pigs weaned, another is the number of litters per sow per year.
As this article will show, three other components deserve attention as well in this
respect: the number of pigs born alive (PBA), preweaning mortality, and non-productive
days (NPD) of female pigs. Assuming 30 PWSY in an example herd (Figure 1), one
NPD equates 0.08 PWSY.

Non-productive days
The NPD include the weaning-to-first-mating interval, reservice interval and removal
interval. Farrowing failure increases the reservice interval or removal interval and NPD.
Removal includes culling, death and euthanasia.

Farrowing rate
Low or high parity sows have a low farrowing rate. For example, the highest farrowing
rate is in parity 2 which is at least 5% higher than parity 0. Additionally, increased
outside temperatures decrease the farrowing rate. The impact of the summer effect or
outdoor temperature on reproductive performance of sows varies depending on parity
number. For example, parity 1 sow farrowing rate drops by 10%, when the temperature
increased from 20 to 30C (Figure 2). In sows in parity 0 and 2 or higher, the decrease
is 2-7%.
Photo: Centro Experimental Porcino
A research team at Meiji University, Japan, used 21-day preservice mean daily
temperatures for individual pigs obtained from local weather stations close to the
herds. This way, producers were able to predict how farrowing rates are likely to
decrease by parity, based on the information from local weather news on TV.
Lower feed intake during lactation also decreases farrowing rate. This is particularly the
case with parity 1 sows where low feed intake during lactation is a detrimental factor
related to farrowing rate.
In addition, herds performing first insemination immediately after first detection for gilts,
had a 8% higher farrowing rate than those with later times for insemination. So,
insemination timing is critical for farrowing rate, especially in gilts.

Reservice interval
Approximately 10% of mated females have a return and they are reserviced. There are
three types of reservice interval: regular (18-24 days), irregular (25-38 days) and late
returns (39 days or later). Gilts have more regular returns than sows, and sows have
more irregular returns than gilts. What follows is that gilts have a problem that is
different from sows in terms of returns. The regular returns indicate either no
conception or failure of maternal recognition. In contrast, irregular returns imply
successful conception but subsequently early pregnancy loss and, then late returns
suggest late pregnancy loss.
Additionally, 33% of the first-returned females had a second return in the same or a
later parity. For example, 21% of the first-returned gilts had a second return in the
same parity 0, and another 20% had a second return in a later parity from parity 1 to 6
or higher. So, to decrease non-productive days, one needs to pay attention to returned
gilts and sows.
In gilts, summer servicing increases three types of returns. Also, increased gilt ages at
first-mating increase late return risk. In contrast, low gilt age at first-mating increases
regular returns, but not related with irregular returns.
For sows, summer servicing, lower parity, farrowing more stillborn piglets and having a
WMI of seven days or more increase three types of returns. In lifetime, 33.5% of
serviced females had one or more returns. These returned females had 41.5 more
lifetime non-productive days than non-return females. Producers need to closely
monitor females in the high risk groups to reduce their return-to-service intervals of
non-productive days.

Weaning-to-first-mating interval
Parity 1 sows have prolonged weaning-to-first-mating intervals (WMI). Also, increased
outside temperature increases WMI. The WMI varies depending on parity and season.
As maximum temperature increased from 25 to 35C, WMI in parity 1 sows increased
by 0.8 days whereas in sows of parities 2 or higher, the increase in WMI was only 0.3
days. Parity 1 sows are three times more sensitive to high temperatures for WMI than
gilts and sows in parity 2 or higher. This type of sensitivity in parity 1 sows appears to
be related to their low feed intake during lactation. Like farrowing rate, low feed intake
during lactation is a detrimental factor for WMI especially in parity 1 sows.
Also, the weaning-to-first mating interval can be used as a predictor for other types of
reproductive performance. For example, sows with prolonged WMI will have lower
farrowing rate and fewer pigs born alive. In addition, prolonged WMI is suggested to be
related to a short duration of oestrus and a shorter interval between onset of oestrus
and ovulation. A consequence of this is an increased risk of inseminating at a
suboptimal period, which can be a major cause of low farrowing rate and fewer pigs
born alive.

Removal interval
Removal interval accounts for 40% of non-productive days. Guidelines and actual
culling intervals for mated sows and gilts are at least ten days higher in high-performing
herds than in low-performing herds. Also, culling guidelines for mated sows and gilts
are not strictly followed in any herd productivity group.

Pigs weaned per sow

The number of pigs weaned depends on the pigs born alive and the pre-weaning

mortality, as can be seen in Figure 1.

Pigs born alive (PBA)

The PBA depends on the total number of pigs born, stillborn piglets and mummies.
Total number of pigs born varies depending on parity and season. For example, the
highest PBA is in parity 3-5 which is about 10% higher than parity 1 sows. Also, as
outside temperatures increase from 25 to 30C, total numbers of pigs born in parity 1
decrease by 0.6 pigs at their subsequent parity, whereas for pregnant gilts the
decreases are only 0.2 pigs. In parity 2 or higher sows, the decrease was 0.4 pigs. So,
parity 1 sows are three times more sensitive to high temperature for total number of
pigs born than pregnant gilts. Again, this type of sensitivity in parity 1 sows appears to
be related to low feed intake of parity 1 sows during lactation.
Delayed first-mating of gilts born in winter and spring increases the total number of pigs
born alive. There is, however, only a small increase of at most 0.4 pigs, even when the
gilt age increased from 200 to 300 days. So the benefit of increasing the gilt age is
limited for increasing PBA. Also, no association was found between the ages and PBA
for gilts born from summer to autumn. A typical approximately 240 days of age at firstmating has been practiced to increase body weights and more body reserves of
replacement gilts to be first-mated.
Additionally, PBA in parity 1 is a predictor that can help producers to identify high
prolific sows (super sows) at an early stage. Sows that have a high PBA in parity 1
typically produce high PBA throughout all the subsequent parities. These high prolific
sows also have high lifetime reproductive performance. Gilt development is critical to
have more super sows. Also, foot care for long toes or claw lesions is a good idea to
keep good sows.

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Lifetime performance

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Lifetime performance contains parity at removal (i.e. longevity), lifetime PBA and
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account for 70% of NPD. Also, increased mortality decreases longevity and lifetime
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Mortality of gilts and sows

Increased mortality occurrences increase non-productive days and decreased numbers
Reed Business bv. Copyright reserved.
of pigs born alive. Farrowing is a major risk factor for sows in all parities and seasons.
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Approximately 68% sow deaths occurred in a six-week peripartum period. As the parity
Statement
number increases, the mortality risk for sows also increases. So, parity 6 or higher
sows in the peri-partum period are at the highest risk of dying. Increased care of
maternal health in the peri-partum period in the farrowing barns would decrease the
number of deaths of females.
In subtropical climate zones, mortality in low parity sows increases during summer,
whereas in aged sows it increases during winter. For example, mortality in parity 0 and
1 sows increased 0.3% in summer, as outside high temperature increased 10C. Also,
mortality in parity 6 or higher sows increased 1% in winter as low temperature
decreased 10C.

Longevity
Longevity is typically measured as number of parity at removal. Lower longevity in
sows increases costs for replacement gilts and subpopulations of parity 0 and 1 sows

which have low immune status for diseases. Also, both high efficiency and longevity
can be achieved in breeding herds. In herd measurements, a lower percentage of reserviced female pigs is associated with both higher PWSY and higher parity at
removal. So increasing the farrowing rate and decreasing the number of re-serviced
females are the way to go.

Need for close monitoring

It is recommended that producers closely monitor the high risk female groups to reduce
non-productive days and pre-weaning mortality, and increase the number of pigs born
alive to improve herd productivity. Also, in most cases, reproductive performances are
influenced by a set of sow factors, management factors, environment and nutritional
factors depending on farms. In short data analysis is important for each farm.
References are available on request.
Source: Pig Progress magazine. Volume 32.6 (2016)
Prof Yuzo Koketsu