Factors for improving reproductive performance of sows and herd productivity in commercial breeding herds

Abstract

We review critical factors associated with reproductive performance of female breeding pigs, their lifetime performance and herd productivity in commercial herds. The factors include both sow-level and herd-level factors. High risk sow-level groups for decreasing reproductive performance of female pigs are low or high parity, increased outdoor temperature, decreased lactation feed intake, single inseminations, increased lactation length, prolonged weaning-to-first-mating interval, low birth weight or low preweaning growth rate, a few pigs born alive at parity 1, an increased number of stillborn piglets, foster-in or nurse sow practices and low or high age at first-mating. Also, returned female pigs are at risk having a recurrence of returning to estrus, and female pigs around farrowing are more at risk of dying. Herd-level risk groups include female pigs being fed in low efficiency breeding herds, late insemination timing, high within-herd variability in pig flow, limited numbers of farrowing spaces and fluctuating age structure. To maximize the reproductive potential of female pigs, producers are recommended to closely monitor females in these high-risk groups and improve herd management. Additionally, herd management and performance measurements in high-performing herds should be targeted.

Keywords: Benchmarking; Production factors; Reproduction; Sow; Swine.

Fig. 1

Example of a productivity tree for 40 pigs weaned per sow per year

Fig. 2

Sensitivity of subsequent total number of pigs born to 21-day pre-service temperature varies with parity [18]. *This study included 27,739 gilts and 127,670 parity records of sows in 95 Japanese herds

Fig. 3

Subsequent return occurrences in first-returned female pigs by parity [37]. *This study contains 65,3528 service records of 114,906 female pigs on 125 EU farms

Fig. 4

Pigs born alive (PBA) at different parities for 4 sow groups. The 4 groups were categorized by the basis of the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles of PBA at parity 1 [39]. *This study includes 476,816 parity records of 109,373 sows entered into 125 southern EU herds. Sows were categorized into 4 groups based on the 10th, 50th and 90th percentiles of PBA in parity 1

Fig. 5

Sensitivity of weaning-to-first-mating interval to post farrowing maximum temperature varies with farm type [17]. *This study comprises 87,428 parity records of 61,558 sows farrowed in 103 Japanese herds, which were classified into high-performing herds and ordinary herds on the basis of pigs weaned per mated female per year