In order to make pig production an increasingly profitable business, increasing productivity should be a continuous target of farms. Just like an industry is able to define the installed capacity of a plant – measuring the amount of products their equipment is able to manufacture – farms can (and should!) forecast how many piglets their sows are able to produce.
However, defining this target is still a great challenge for farm managers, particularly because they are not sure about one rather practical question: how many piglets should a sow produce throughout its life? The first step to get an answer to this question is to search for information with genetic companies, because they are able to estimate the maximum number of piglets their sows are able to produce.
This is the number that should be aimed at and, together with other factors; it will indicate the maximum productive potential of the farm. In order for this potential to be reached, indicators should not be analyzed in isolation; the analysis should rather consider the performance of the sows and its impact on production as a whole. Producers are often concerned only with getting a good ratio of pigs weaned per sow per year and a good retention rate up to the third parity. But when they cull a sow, they don’t ask how much it has produced throughout its whole productive life. Has all the genetic potential been achieved? If it could have produced 100 piglets during the period it was at the farm, but at the time it was culled you find out that it produced only 40 or 50, for example, this means that there has been a considerable waste.
The difference between what could have been produced by every sow and what was actually produced means money lost. When you have clarity about the production potential of a sow during its whole productive life, it becomes easier to identify the points of waste. Maybe the sow has produced less because of low parity rates, early culling, high mortality rate, etc.
The analysis of these and other indicators makes more sense when you know the goal to be achieved. Based on the predicted genetic performance and considering the available infrastructure, including labor and facilities, you can anticipate the maximum productive potential of your sows, the number of piglets they should produce throughout their lives, and thus set targets to achieve it.
If the goal is always to try to have lower cost and zero waste, the team should work so that all sows produce at a maximum, because unproductive sows lead to a reduction in profits. Additionally, we have to check the performance of the sows more broadly in order to better identify individual waste – that is – how much you fail to gain with every sow. This broader view is fundamental to implement the PENSAMENTO+1 process in the farm and fight waste, eliminating for good this major factor that affects pig production.
What about you? Do you already know the productive potential of the sows in your farm? Please share your experience with us!
Can a pig give birth 10 times
Hello, Jerome!
Yes, a sow can have 10 paritys in her lifetime, but she will hardly have a good productivity at this age. On average, a sow reaches her productive maximum in the 4st farrowing, and from there the tendency is that the production efficiency decreases with each cycle. In addition, older sows tend to give birth to more stillborns, which can generate significant effect on swine farm profitability. Besides, is important that the farm has its criteria of cullings well defined, always taking into account the technical recommendations used in the farm, and that these decisions are always based on quality information.
If you have any questions, we are available. Thank you!
My pig gave birth to one piglet. What could be the cause? And shld I sell it off or give it another chance?
Hello, Lydia!
The fact that the sow has produced only one piglet can have several causes, ranging from management issues to reproductive problems. To determine whether the sow should be sold or given a new chance, it is first necessary to identify what caused the sow to produce only one piglet (whether it was a sow or farm problem) and then evaluate her production history, identifying the number of parities and the total number of piglets already produced. The decision to sell or not is managerial and will be determined by the farm’s production objective, in which the value received by each piglet sold and the cost of maintaining a low yielding sow in the herd should be considered.
If you have any questions, we are available.
Give it another chance
my first time farrow had 1 piglet..what could cause that?should give it to another mother and prepare to serve it ?if yes how long before i serve it
My sow has given birth the fourth time now should i keep it or dispose it now ….this time round it has farrowed16 piglets and all are well. Can i have it served once more
Hello, Marion.
To assess the possibility of breeding, some features of this sow´s reproductive history must be assessed: number of total piglets born, number of piglets born alive, non-productive days in each cycle and losses at farrowing. It is also important to evaluate factors related the number and weight of weaned piglets. In addition, it is essential to consider the general status of this sow: locomotive system, mammary gland, body score and health. If according to your selection criteria the sow is fit she can be serviced again.
If you have any questions, we are available.
It is possible that a pig can give birth with a 20 piglets ? Or more ?
Hello, Ezra.
The number of piglets born is directly linked to the rate of ovulation, since the sow ovulates from 15 to 30 oocytes per estrous. According to Agriness annual performance report on pig production (Benchmarking), available on the site http://materiais.agriness.com/relatorio-anual-melhores-da-suinocultura, the 10 best Brazilian farms in 2018 had an average of 16.26 piglets born per sow.
If you have any questions, we are available.
My sow giving birth last month. And most of her piglets are mummified. What is the possible reason why piglets is mummified?
Hello, Ezra.
Fetal mummification is a change resulting from the death of the fetus characterized by incomplete resorption. It happens between days 35 and 90 of gestation.
The causes may be infectious and non-infectious. Among the infectious causes the main ones are: Parvovirus, Leptospira sp. and enterovirus. Among the non-infectious causes are: absence of uterine space, stress, seasonality, number of parities, etc.
As it is a multifactorial condition, it is important to seek more information in order to identify possible reproductive and/or management failures that may interfere with the onset of these cases.
References:
SOUZA et al. Natimortalidade e mumificação fetal em suínos. Nutritime Revista Eletônica, V.09, n.03, p. 1787-1800,2012.
BORTOLOZZO et al. A fêmea suína gestante. In: Suinocultura em ação. Porto Alegre, 2007.
If you have any questions, we are available.
hello, my sow give birth for 9 piglets but my sow produce too little milk her piglets are so malnourished now. what should i do ?
Why do pigs have many offspring?
I’m starting big farming, pls how do i get healthy and very good breed to stock my farm
Is it a must to give piglets iron and at how many days, or months should I give them?
Thanks for the education. From all I gathered it means from the 4th parity the sow should be culled except you feel she is still going to give you good litter again. It also means depending on the prevailing factors observed a sow can produce up 10 litters.
Thanks so much for these submission am also a farmer in the same industry and l h have learnt that a pig reaches its peak on the fourth parity. My challenge is my does Farrow agood number of piglets but smush almost 50percent. They can litter btn 12_16.