BIOLOGICAL FACTORS FOR HIGH PRODUCTIVITY

IN GROWING PIGS

Dorthe Poulsgård Frandsen

SEGES, VSP

Minus30 PitStop

November 17 & 18, 2015

DAYS FROM BIRTH TO SLAUGHTER?

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2014 Poorest 25% Av. DK Top 25%

Total, days 178 days 171 days 164 days

Total, weeks 25.4 weeks 24.4 weeks 23.4 weeks

Feed costs, DKK/pig -44 -22 -

WHICH PIGS ARE FIRST?

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● The biggest ?

● The oldest ?

● What do we know ?

AGENDA

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- Birth weight

- Heat

- Colostrum intake

- Milk production

- Sectioning

- Weaning facilities

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0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1

1,2

1,4

1,6

1,8

2

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

We

igth

at

bir

th,

kg

.

Total born piglets per litter

Figur 1. Avange weigth at birth versus litter sizeFigure 1. Average weight at birth vs litter size

BIRTH WEIGHT VS MORTALITY

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2 1,4 1,6 1,8 2,0 2,2

Mo

rtality

in

farr

ow

ing

un

it, %

Birth weight, kg

Study:

9,000 pigs in 9 herds

19 %

BIRTH SLAUGHTER

82

84

86

88

90

92

94

96

98

100

540

550

560

570

580

590

600

610

620

630

640

650

weight 0-1.0 kg weight 1.0-1.5 kg weight 1.5-3.0 kg

En

d w

eig

ht,

kg

Dail

y g

ain

g/d

ay

Daily gain g/dag End weight, kg

9.7 kg

Study:

9,000 pigs in 9 herds

63 g/day

HEAT

01-09-2015 8...|

● Shift-suckling of large litters

● Cross-fostering – one teat per piglet

COLOSTRUM INTAKE

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Two-step nurse sow Newly farrowed sows with large

litters

Newborn piglets placed with a

newly farrowed sow 12 hours

after she has delivered the

last piglet, preferably a 2nd

parity sow

12-hour-old piglets moved

to a nurse that farrowed 4-

8 days ago

Two-step

nurse sow

Interm. nurse sow

Pigs are

weaned

Nurse sow

4-8-day old piglets

moved to an

intermediate sow

that farrowed min.

21 days ago

MILK PRODUCTION – WEANING WEIGHT

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Factor Effect per pig at

weaning

Effect on litter weight

One extra pig in the litter ÷150 g +4 kg

Dier en 1. kuldsso ÷200 gram ÷2,4 kg

Én gris vejer 100 gram

mere ved fødsel

+200 gram +0,2 kg (vejer alle grise 100

gram mere, så +2,4 kg)

En ekstra diedag +200 gram +2,4 kg

Én lille gris tilsat mere

end 2 dage efter faring

÷300 gram (resten i

kuldet mister 150 gram)

+5 kg ÷1,65 kg

Ekstra gris – tabt tilvækst

+/-

MILK PRODUCTION – WEANING WEIGHT

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Factor Effect per pig at

weaning

Effect on litter weight

New amino acid standard

for lactating sows

+350 g/pig +4.55 kg

Dier en 1. kuldsso ÷200 gram ÷2,4 kg

Én gris vejer 100 gram

mere ved fødsel

+200 gram +0,2 kg (vejer alle grise 100

gram mere, så +2,4 kg)

En ekstra diedag +200 gram +2,4 kg

Én lille gris tilsat mere

end 2 dage efter faring

÷300 gram (resten i

kuldet mister 150 gram)

+5 kg ÷1,65 kg

Ekstra gris – tabt tilvækst

SECTIONING - WEANING WEIGHT

● Sundhed ved at holde ”skæg og snot for sig”

● Afledte effekter i klimastald og slagtesvinestalde???

Factor Effect per pig at

weaning

Effect on litter weight

Sectioned management

in farrowing unit

+230 g +2.8 kg

All in/ All out

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6.78

45.04

33.41

10.99

2.67 0.76 0.35

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

14-20days

21-27days

28-34days

35-41days

42-48days

49-56days

more than56 days

Distribution of weaning age, %

Min. 14 days

Av. 29 days

Max. 67 days

3.5 %

Study:

9,000 pigs in 9 herds

WEANING WEIGHT MORTALITY IN WEANER UNIT

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Mo

rtali

ty i

n w

ean

er

un

it,

%

Weaning weight

weight < 5.6 weight 5.6-6.5 weight 6.5-7.5 weight > 7.5

Study:

9,000 pigs in 9 herds

A SMALL PIGLET – IS A GOOD PIGLET

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A SMALL PIGLET – IS A GOOD PIGLET

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Runts: 12-16% of all weaned pigs

Trial with 1,100 runts in two herds

OPTIMIZED WEANER PEN

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OPTIMIZED WEANER PEN

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Nurse sow Optimized pen

Start weight 4.4 kg 4.4 kg (NS)

After 1 week 5.6 kg 5.0 kg (***)

After 7 weeks 24.9 kg 25.5 kg (NS)

Mortality 7.5 % 7.5 % (NS)

Marginal costs DKK22/pig DKK11/pig

It makes sense to wean runts in an

optimized weaner pen

GAIN VS START WEIGHT

R² = 0,0034

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Daily g

ain

,g

Start weight

All batches

BUT…

We do not know

pigs’ age….

AGE

DEAD IN FINISHER UNIT

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

Mo

rtali

ty i

n f

inis

her

un

it,

%

Age (days) at transfer to finisher unit

60-80 80-90 over 90

Study:

9,000 pigs in 9 herds

THE END

● A good pig is:

● A live pig

● A well-raised pig (farrowing unit)

● +heat

● +colostrum

● +sow milk

● +sectioning

● A well-raised pig (weaner)

● +optimized pens

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THANK YOU

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