Within the remaining 9 years that I’ve been with MetaFarms, a query that I am getting requested probably the most continuously from sow farm manufacturers is, “Taking a look at my knowledge, how can I recuperate?” Apart from the most obvious million-pound elephant within the room that could be a wholesome pig is king, the solution again to the manufacturer is the query, “How is your gilt control?”
Control marketing consultant, educator, and writer Peter Drucker was once quoted announcing, “You’ll’t set up what you’ll’t measure.” He went on to mention, “Except you measure one thing, you do not know whether it is getting worse or higher.” The huge quantity of knowledge that every sow farm captures and enters right into a report retaining program is thoughts blowing, similar to why and the way an animal was once got rid of, which individual serviced the animal, what farrowing room the sow entered in to, and a lot more! Simply the other can also be stated with knowledge captured in gilt developer devices.
When to tag new arriving gilts?
When your farm receives new gilts into your GDU, the animals are typically remoted from the principle herd for 6 or extra weeks. All the way through this time, vaccinations are happening, therapies are given, warmth no carrier occasions are being entered, and non-selection animals are got rid of. The time of arrival into the GDU is the perfect time for when person id (tagging) must happen. Many sow farms will wait to in my view tag an animal till proper ahead of the primary carrier happens. The volume of brief and long-term data this is being ignored will price a farm a lot more than the price of a tag and the exertions had to record the other occasions within the GDUs. Beneath is a listing of occasions that happen in GDUs at the side of a abstract of ways that tournament can be utilized for long run research and animal control:
- Warmth no carrier: Prediction for subsequent warmth cycle.
- Removals: Animals got rid of in GDUs because of demise or construction are pricey.
- Feed consumption: Lengthy-term productiveness in line with feed consumption.
Beneath is a listing of what each new arrival gilt must have recorded as an characteristic:
- Major ID
- Choice ID (in case the principle ID is misplaced)
- Arrival date (Extraordinarily necessary)
- Arrival parity
- Foundation (Prior website online location. Some resources have higher high quality of gilts than others)
- Age or birthdate (Does no longer wish to be the precise date, one thing is best than not anything)
- Genetic line (Extraordinarily necessary for long run efficiency and retention research)
Efficiency and longevity by way of choice of HNS
Sow farm efficiency and longevity research was once carried out using the MetaFarms Ag Platform the place 10 randomly decided on sow farms the place selected in line with two major standards. From those 10 sow farms, knowledge was once analyzed for brand spanking new gilts arrived between January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2022, which consisted of just about 40,000 gilts.
Traits of the ten sow farms:
- U.S. based totally farms
- Midwest positioned
- In most cases wholesome (porcine reproductive and breathing syndrome damaging or solid)
- Typical manufacturing (No batch farms incorporated)
The desk underneath presentations the parity 1 efficiency and elimination variations between the ones animals that had 1, 2 or extra warmth no products and services occasions and the ones and not using a HNS occasions. The farrowing charge distinction between the ones with 2+ HNS occasions was once 4.8% upper than the ones without any, and zero.47 development in overall born. 22.2% of the ones and not using a HNS occasions have been got rid of ahead of the primary farrow, 17.3% had just one farrow tournament. The traditional monetary breakeven for gilts is to get between 2 to a few parities. The ones and not using a HNS occasions misplaced 47.3% ahead of the threerd parity.
Age to start with carrier
The age at which a gilt is serviced is very necessary to be sure that the animal is sexually mature sufficient. Servicing of more youthful gilts way the ovaries can also be underdeveloped which is able to result in a low quantity of eggs, while older animals are typically heavier with downsides being deficient construction, fertility problems and farrowing headaches.
The chart underneath is a take a look at farrowing efficiency by way of age to start with carrier. In MetaFarms, the age at carrier is calculated from the primary carrier date minus the age or birthdate from the coming tournament. The chart is then additional separated between the ones gilts and not using a HNS occasions and the ones with a number of HNS occasions. Maximum animals have been bred within the 210–239-day age vary some of the two HNS standards. With that age vary, the ones animals with 1+ HNS occasions had a 7.58% higher farrowing charge and zero.3 merit in overall born.
Elimination by way of parity
The chart underneath seems to be on the cumulative overall born reasonable for the ones gilts that arrived in 2021 and 2022, by way of elimination parity for a rolled-up elimination class reason why of reproductive causes. Reproductive causes would come with animals that have been got rid of because of: no warmth, didn’t conceive, a couple of returns, no longer in pig and preg. take a look at negatives. 38.3% of the animals have been got rid of because of reproductive causes. The black line is consultant of removals with a minimum of one warmth no carrier tournament. By way of parity 5, the overall born distinction between the ones animals that had a minimum of one HNS tournament and those who didn’t was once 7.5 pigs.
The desk underneath is a praise to the chart above with the addition of the breakdown of parity elimination at the side of cumulative born alive totals. As a reminder, those removals have been reproductive causes handiest. Parity 0 are animals have been arrived on the sow farm, serviced however didn’t have a farrow tournament. 90.0% of reproductive causes have been got rid of ahead of parity 3. 68.6% have been got rid of previous to parity 3 with the ones with a minimum of 1 HNS tournament.
Dedication to luck:
A quote from former school soccer trainer Lou Holtz says, “Construct your empire at the company basis of the basics.” That announcing is correct in all walks of existence, together with inside the beef business. The long-term luck of any farrow to complete operation relies at the high quality of recent arriving gilts. Knowledge inside this text obviously presentations that previous to a gilt’s first carrier, if she has a number of warmth no carrier occasions, the early and long-term efficiency will supersede the ones gilts and not using a warmth no carrier occasions.
It may be simple for farm workforce to push apart the day by day chores concerned with gilt control and with legitimate however unacceptable causes. Lately, cellular packages have turn into more straightforward to make use of and extra dependable for GDUs. Having a devoted cellular instrument on the GDU website online will permit the farm workforce to go into within the day by day occasions briefly and simply and can prohibit the unfold of any imaginable illnesses by way of shifting the instrument round to different websites. The MetaFarms platform works for GDU report retaining, permitting the knowledge recorded to apply at the side of the animal to the sow unit in order that no knowledge is misplaced.
The ideas amassed in GDUs can and can result in brief and longer term monetary and control practices that may separate the most productive acting sow devices, to these devices that combat to recover from the hump. The ones most sensible acting farms, with 30 pigs weaned in line with mated feminine in line with yr or extra, have a cast basis for his or her sow farm, while the ones which might be suffering, have a leaky basis with questions of what the purpose is. With out the precise data, how are you able to measure it?
MetaFarms Analytic Insights have been used to give you the context and traits for this text. If you want to speak or see an research of ways the warmth no carrier efficiency on your farm is, or when you have tips on manufacturing spaces to put in writing articles about, please electronic mail or name us. We revel in being part of the Nationwide Hog Farmer Weekly Preview group. Earlier Manufacturing Preview columns can also be discovered right here.
If in case you have questions or feedback about those columns, or when you have a particular efficiency size that you want to us to put in writing about, please touch Bradley Eckberg by way of electronic mail.