Using advanced ultrasound technology for managing gilt pool efficiency

Reducing non-productive days has always been an important part of improving gilt and sow productivity. The ability to assess your staff in their effectiveness to accurately identify heats in gilts and validate any replacement gilt hormonal protocols would be invaluable. The use of transcutaneous ultrasound on ovaries and uteri in gilts allows us to observe the puberty status of individual gilts and tailor specific and accurate interventions.

It is not uncommon for producers to have groups of replacement gilts that include both post-pubertal cycling, pre-pubertal non-cycling and gilts of unknown estrus status. A percentage of gilts may also have defects, impossible to acertain by external physical examination, that render them infertile. Having a tool to assess the reproductive soundness and pubertal status of gilts can be invaluable.

Pre-pubertal gilts produce visible small sized follicles on the ovary during development. The pre-pubertal gilt also has a visibly smaller sized uterus. As puberty approaches, medium sized follicles may be seen in some gilts. At time of puberty, there is follicular growth as well as uterine enlargement.

Scanning the ovaries and uterus as an indicator for puberty status has proven to be very accurate.

A cohort of 24 gilts at 200 days of age were scanned 20 days after arrival to a sow barn to observe their ovaries and uterus using transcutaneous ultrasound technology. After arrival to the sow barn these gilts were housed together in a group pen and received boar exposure on a daily basis. Any signs of heat and date of heat detection was recorded. Observation of puberty status after a 20 day period allowed assessment of the accuracy of what the heat detector recorded and appropriate hormonal intervention to be implemented in a timely manner.

Observation of these 24 gilts revealed that 33% of the group remained pre-pubertal, 63% of the group were post-pubertal and cycling. Staff incorrectly identified the onset of puberty/signs of estrus in 4% of the population as ultrasound scanning identified these individuals as pre-pubertal.

The information provided by transcutaneous ultrasound allowed the producer to make determinations regarding the timing of hormonal treatments with minimal negative impact and allowed the heat detector to be confident in observed signs of heat status and areas for improvement.

We need to have effective means by which to provide a constant influx of available gilts most efficiently. Assessment of gilt pool management with the use of a tool such as transcutaneous ultrasound technology on an on-going or intermittent basis would provide a means to achieve such goals.

Disclosure of Interest: None Declared.