Do We Cull Our Sows Too Fast ?
By: Paul Walker Thompson
Written March 08, 2014
As a fan of trying to get as much “Lifetime Performance” out of sows, I find myself asking: “Do We Cull Our Sows Too Fast?”. In my previous article “Sow Longevity: a Missing Element?” I talked about Steamboat Pork’s manager Kevin Portner, who in the year of 2003 got an average of 52 pigs/lifetime female out of his sows.(1+2) He never culled on “Body Condition” and never culled Parity-2 Sows on “Reproductive Performance”! Rather, He gave them a real chance to prove themselves in the Farrowing Barn!(1+2) In the Article “Are Sows Being Culled for the Right Reasons?”, Ken Stalder, Mark Knauer and Locke Karriker showed in that for 923 sows on eight conventional Farrow-To-Wean Farms, the following six main reasons were given for culling sows: Old Age (35%), Did Not Conceive (19%), Anestrous (13%), Body Condition (10%), Lameness (9%), and Farrowing Production (8%). (3) I personally believe that all of these parameters can be improved by better “Production Management Practices”. First of all, In my humble opinion, sows should be given two full “Reproductive Cycles”(i.e. 42 days) and eight Wean-To -Service Days” to re-bred (i.e. 50 days total) before culling is considered!
Also in my opinion, “Sow Body Condition” and “Sow Lameness” are usually “Management Derived Problems”. We need to get sows up to full feed in the Farrow Barn as fast as possible, without causing constipation. This can be done by “Stair-Stepping” the feed offered in an aggressive manner, starting the feeding after farrowing. Sow Lameness can be reduced by investing in proper flooring, good selection of sound feet and legs in gilts, and quick movement to the hospital pen once Lameness occurs. I believe that antibiotics should be used on Lame Sows in case of possible bacterial infections in joints. Check with your veterinarian on this issue. As for Old Age, if we keep Old Sows to the eight parity, instead of the seventh parity, and we let the “Highly Productive Sows” go well beyond that, as long as they are very productive, we can always load up Old Sows with extra piglets born to these “High Pigs/Litter Sows” once they “Bomb-Out”! We should let Old Sows “Bomb-Out” once before we cull them on either “Low Born Alive” or “Low Weaned Numbers”. Culling a sow while she is still productive is a waste of time, money and “Genetic Potential”. If we raise our own “Replacement Gilts”, we should select for gilts from sows with high “Weaned Per Lifetime Numbers”. The ultimate goal of our swine production efforts is “Maximum Profit (Revenue) Per Weaned Pig Sold” and/or “Maximum Profit (Revenue) Per Market Hog Sold”. PWT
