Peter Kristinson at the George Vet Pig Fair explained what he believed to be the success behind managing a high performing sow herd. PEOPLE, COLOSTRUM, FARROWING CRATE EFFICIENCY, GILT DEVELOPMENT, AND SOW CONDITION.
In Denmark the sow genetics is being improved all the time to reach exceptional production rates and due to this the Danes are learning a new skill set of small piglet management and what to do when most litters are 12 +.
What
they know already is that what ever happens it all happens in the first 5 days
so resources in this critical period are essential. “It is the piglets between
700g and 1kg that we need to grasp and save as we know less than 700g may not
survive even with good management” said Peter. Strategies that must be adopted
in these systems are:
·
"Farrow
Out" get the sow in in good, but not too long, time. manage her for a quick farrowing and get
the piglets up and going in.
·
Split
Suckle anything over 10.
·
Cross
Foster.
·
GIANT
Piglets put onto and old sow or a gilt.
·
Mediums
keep on their own mum.
·
Smalls
- New farrowed P2 Sow.
·
Maximise
her own piglets at all times!!!
·
For
every 12 sows you need 2 spare crates. 1 for all the "extras" (Bonus Sows) and 1
for runts after 2 weeks (Nurse Sows)
·
In
general you need 1 crate for every 4 sows on the inventory. Empty Crates are not
an inefficiency they are and opportunity to improve.
·
You
need a 6 and out cull policy with 60% replacement rate.