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Sow feeding management
An essential part of any strategy to optimize sow reproductive performance, increase efficiency of feed usage and lower culling rate, is to control weight and backfat gain during gestation and weight and backfat loss in lactation. This is best achieved by individually feeding each sow a well balanced diet, and basing daily feed allowances according to an estimate of sow bodyweight and backfat thickness.
A well-designed feeding program can help meet operational goals for sow farm efficiency and profit by minimizing feed waste and maximizing sow productivity. An effective sow feeding program starts with breeding gilts within the right window of weight and feeding them according to recommendations during their first gestation. This can help maximize the number of sows in ideal condition at first farrowing.
Additionally, knowing and maintaining an ideal sow body condition score is a key strategic area for long-term success. The body condition of sows in the barn is closely related to the profitability of the sow farm because it impacts sow longevity and reproductive performance. Keeping sows in the ideal body condition – not too fat and not too thin – is essential. A successful feeding program includes recording data and linking body condition to feeding so you can correctly adjust each sow’s feed ration.
Conclusion
Claw lesions are an important cause of lameness in sows. Claw lesions that penetrate the corium increase the potential for inflammatory response and are associated with pain, lameness and decreased productivity. Lameness and reproductive failure are two of the most prominent reasons for early removal from the sow herd. Feeding and management to help prevent claw lesions and lameness should begin...
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Introduction
During the past few years, there has been growing concern expressed by the public over the continued use of individual stalls in gestation or pregnant sow housing systems. In the United States, this has resulted in legislation by a number of states to ban individual stalls or pressure from retailers like McDonalds and Safeway (grocery food chain) to not purchase pork raised in facilities with sows housed in stalls during...
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The survival of neonate piglets depends directly on the acquisition of maternal immunity via colostrum, and milk affording systemic and mucosal protection, respectively. Whereas colostral IgG are mainly due to accumulation of blood IgG in the acini of the mammary gland at the end of pregnancy, milk IgA originates from plasma cells; according to their homing receptors these cells orginate form separate mucosal compartments in the respiratory tract and intestine....
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Altrenogest, marketed for use in horses as Regumate, is a synthetic progestin that is marketed for use in pigs as MATRIX. It effectively regulates the occurrence of estrus in randomly cycling gilts if it is provided for 14 or more days at a daily dose of 15 mg/day. It is important to assure that each gilt receives her full dose; otherwise problems of cystic follicles and reduced fertility may be observed. Introduction It has long...
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Summary Management of the sow herd has direct and indirect effects on the performance of their progeny and consequently, on herd feed conversion (HFC). Reducing sow replacement rate has a small direct effect on HFC due to changes in breeder feed consumption. However, the indirect impact of the associated reduction in the proportion of gilts and their progeny in the breeding herd has a...
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Introduction Longevity of a breeding female is influenced by a wide variety of factors, one of which is the nutritional management of the female throughout her productive life. In modern pork production, the female becomes a part of the breeding herd at birth. Hopefully, several reproductive cycles follow before her removal from the breeding herd. A sound feeding program focuses nutrition throughout the whole life span of...
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Summary Oxytocin is frequently used to decrease farrowing time and birth interval as an aid to prevent stillbirths. However, recent research has shown that oxytocin use can increase the number of pigs stillborn when used too early in the birth process. This research indicates that the reason for increased stillbirths was increased ruptured umbilical cords leading to compromise of the pigs oxygen supply...
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Weight and backfat losses, during lactation, are reduced when lactating sows receive a feed containing Rovabio Excel, a NSP enzyme developed by Adisseo.
Six trials throughout the world, concerning more than 500 sows, with different genetics, different feed compositions, various ages at weaning, prove that on average weight loss can be reduced during lactation by more than 3 kg, and backfat thickness by 24 % from...
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Feedback from the usage of Levucell SB (LSB) in sow diets is rich of visible signs of success during the lactation period and around farrowing. However, these results are usually obtained after feeding LSB throughout the gestation phase whith no visible signs. Consequently, LSB is often perceived as a cost-increasing factor by nutritionist. Production trials allowing a chance to measure any improvement are very unlikely to be performed. Due to 'natural'...
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In pigs, energy derived from the diet is digested in the small intestine through enzymatic hydrolysis or fermented in the large intestine by micro-organisms. In growing animals, hindgut fermentation accounts for 8 to 18% of total dietary energy, increasing with non starch polysaccharides (NSP) levels. Sow diets are higher in fibre than pig diets, but little is known about hindgut fermentation in sows.
A trial was designed to...
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The relaxation of animal disease restrictions will help pig farmers struggling with ever-increasing numbers of cull sows, but there is still a large backlog to clear. The cost of feeding cull sows can be a major item of expenditure but using alternative feeds can help keep costs down says the British Pig Executive (BPEX) but it is not a case of just switching feed. Potatoes, carrots, sugar beet, silage and fodder beet can all be used but nutritional balance and other factors must...
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