Costings & Herd Performance
KPI Farm Case Studies
Super Six KPIs: farm case study
Here BPEX looks at how one 1900-sow indoor breeding herd is performing against the Super Six KPIs. The business also rears and finishes its progeny on several different sites.
- All animals are liquid-fed which brings benefits and challenges. The manager explains that, while the flexibility to source different feed ingredients can be very cost effective, the business is also subject to feed cost volatility due to the cost of energy. Liquid feed must be very carefully managed to ensure adequate supply of ingredients and maintain consistent nutritional balance.
- They work with a nutritionist to formulate the rations and always work back from best cost ration. Then they add extra of a particular ingredient if pigs need it at specific stages.
- They believe their pyramid health system is key to maintaining and improving performance, which is even more important now in light of higher feed prices.
- Sows are wet-fed twice a day via one valve per 12 pigs, plus two water mixes (or three in the summer). The diet is based on wheat and barley.
- Dry sow diets include whey, permeate, vitamins from Frank Wright, soya oil and wheat feed
- Farrowing sows are fed a lactation ration via a separate tank, which is piped and fed to appetite, mainly measured ‘by eye’ and experience
- The lactation diet includes high protein soya
- They avoid over-feeding, feeding once a day pre-farrowing and twice a day post-farrowing. Up to 14 litres are fed am and pm
- Then they move onto feeding three times a day with approx 8-10 litres in the evening
- From day 10 onwards creep is given to piglets
- Essential to give Baycox in the farrowing house
- The unit is meticulous about sorting weaning – by size and by sex – to create uniform groups to help tailor feeding and management
- They have invested in a new sorting area which provides the same environment as the farrowing pens, on plastic slats and fully insulated. It is important to keep weaners as calm as possible
- It has a 6ft-wide passage with pen sides only a foot high to make it easy for stockpeople to step in and out. It now takes less than half the time it did previously to sort 200 piglets
- Groups of 48 to begin with, reducing to 40 as they get bigger
- Weaned onto creep with a big wheel feeder and a long home-made training trough is re-filled whenever it empties for first week
- Piglets switch onto wet feed within 20 days. The target weight is for piglets to reach 14kg before they switch diets. They aim for 1.2 or 1.3 FCR at that stage.
- They have previously tried choice feeding to start with, but have found the most efficient transition is to remove the creep and switch immediately to wet feed as the only option
- At weaner stage, consistency in the diet is particularly important so they buy in a balancer meal and typically add yoghurt, whey, custard and soya oil to it.
- Naturally ventilated – thermometer-controlled but no fans (ACNV)
- Weaner pens include a micro-environment, so pigs have a choice
- Euthanasia decisions are made quickly
- Weaners are vaccinated with Circoflex, as a safety net rather than necessity
- From the weaner site, each pen should be 40 pigs at 37kg (38 kg max)
- They now weigh pigs between every stage, with weigh bridges put in two years ago
- At the finishing site, pigs are not mixed, they just split the groups of 40 into 20s.
- They are fed on a series of three different rations, formulated using a mix of: wheat, barley and soya plus a co-product such as WDS, jam, biscuit waste or permeate
- Pigs are finished at an average of 80-82 kg, with backfat measurement of 10-11mm
- To achieve an average 7kg weaning weight
- Do what we’re doing but more consistently
- Increase farrowing places in order to get piglets to heavier weaned weight/provide more days
- In the next five years increase to 2000 – 2500 sows
Super Six – breeding herd
| 12 months ending Dec 2010 | Top 10 Percent | Top 1/3 | Average | My Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farrowing rate | 88.55 | 85.77 | 80.75 | 88.8 |
| Litters per sow per year | 2.42 | 2.36 | 2.25 | 2.38 |
| Pigs born alive | 12.85 | 12.49 | 11.61 | 12.04 |
| Pre-weaning mortality | 9.57 | 10.48 | 12.35 | 10.7 |
| Weightper piglet produced | 7.04 | 7.44 | 7.37 | 6.9 |
| Kg weaned per sow per year | 199.59 | 196.58 | 169.89 | 176.54 |
This farm is above average for all six key breeding herd KPIs and in the top third of producers or higher on three out of the super six.
Breeding herd management
This farm is above average for all six key breeding herd KPIs and in the top third of producers or higher on three out of the super six.
Lactation feeding:
Super Six – combined rearing and finishing herds
| 12 months ending Dec 2010 | Top 10 Percent | Top 1/3 | Average | My Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mortality | 3.5 | 4.11 | 5.28 | 3.7 |
| Feed conversion ratio | 2.33 | 2.39 | 2.5 | 2.23 |
| Daily liveweight gain (g/day) | 625 | 676 | 650 | 654 |
| Feed cost per kg gain (p) | 36.22 | 41.23 | 48.86 | 47.15 |
| Average carcase weight per pig (kg) | 80.5 | 82.8 | 79 | 80.4 |
Rearer and finisher management
Weaning and rearing
Finishing
Future targets
