In high-yielding sow pig farms, special emphasis must be given to dry sows. In order to reduce the total mortality of sows, the management of feeding must first be optimized. There are three main points that must be done: individual care, freedom from interference, and simultaneous execution. The self-locking feeding bar enables the sow to feed the individual's desired amount of feed in an undisturbed, intimate environment.

There are also three areas to pay attention to in terms of feeding and management. First, a stable community hierarchy must be established as soon as possible. Second, we must ensure that each sow can eat at least once a day. Third, the sow should be provided with a sufficiently comfortable reclining environment for different weather conditions and individual body conditions. To achieve this, at least two floors with different thermal insulation properties must be arranged in each fence.

Introduction: Sows lost too much

Affected by the drop in pig prices, many successful pig producers have largely focused on cost control. Although this is not a cost center for swine production, the replacement rate of gilts is now too high, and many farms have reached more than 50%. Not only that, the performance and health of this herd have been affected. Therefore, we must ask a question: How to manage modern high-yield sows so as to avoid the risk of premature elimination? What are the risk factors in feeding and management?

The Soest University of Germany conducted a survey of the loss of sows in 46 farrowing farms. In many cases, the elimination decision is based on several reasons. Therefore, the researchers identified the main causes and secondary causes. The reason for the elimination of most sows is because of advanced age and infertility. But how old is the sow? In some farms, the sows after 4 months are already considered "old" (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Reasons for the elimination of sows in German breeding farms

(Freitag and Wittmann, 2008)

In many cases, no real elimination reason can be found. In the production study conducted in Germany from November 2004 to November 2005, the dead and nursed sows from four sow herds were sent to the Institute of Pathology for postmortem examination. The results showed that 47% of individuals did not find infectious diseases, 33% found infections, and 20% were eliminated as radon and accidents (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Pathological anatomy results

(Nienhoff, 2007)

We know that there is not only a big difference between farms, but there are also great differences between different countries. In Germany, our elimination rate is 5 to 7%; the Netherlands has only 5%, while Denmark averages 15%. A large proportion of sows in Denmark are humanely slaughtered due to shoulder injuries, but the overall proportion is still too high.

Strategic management measures during feeding

In order to simplify the actual problem, we have better focus our work on pregnant sows. In addition, we also need to distinguish between feeding reasons and management reasons. When arranging a new pig house, the first thing you must pay attention to is feeding. When the feeding system is determined, the barn system needs to be improved.

In Europe, sows must be group fed from the fifth week of pregnancy until one week before birth (EU Guide 2001/88/EG). There is a hierarchical relationship between sows, which can cause problems in the feeding process. Predominance sows - those who are in high ranking sows - will entangle at the feeder entrance. This will deter vulnerable sows and make them unable to feed easily.

The feeding system needs to achieve three main goals:

Every sow is fed feed every day. Otherwise, it may affect weight gain.

Each sow must not be disturbed during the feeding process. Restricted feeding of pregnant sows is very strict, and the difference in the speed of feeding between different individuals exceeds 100%.

Sows in the same partition should feed at the same time. Any electronic feeding machine cannot overcome this problem if it cannot be fed at the same time.

Feeding bar is the preferred solution

It is not surprising that only the self-locking or hand-locked feed bar meets the requirements of the sow and the farm manager and feeder. This self-locking system has many advantages. It allows sows to be in contact with other pigs when they want to, but can have more private space when they eat.

Most importantly, this system is quiet and friendly between animals. At the same time, pregnancy checks are also easier because the sows are easily fixed. The bile is usually empty before the sow returns to feeding the feed. Therefore, pregnancy diagnosis is often more accurate. Sows are very quiet during feeding in their feeding pens.

Feeding is common in the Netherlands, but not in Denmark. This is one of the reasons why the sow's loss rate is so wide. Whether it is a small farm or a large farm, the feeding bar is suitable. There are applications in both traditional and organic farms. Compared to electronic feeding systems, feeders can more easily operate such systems without rigorous training (Table 1).

Table 1. Comparison of five feeding systems applied in high-production sows.

Strategic measures for feeding and management

With regard to the conditions of livestock houses, there are three points that are important for health, productivity, and sustainability. These three points are community ratings, gut filling, and lying comfort.

A stable community hierarchy

The aggressive nature of sows is a heritable trait that may be improved through breeding. However, the impact of environment and management on sow behavior is still very important. When sows are mixed, new hierarchical relationships must be established. In order to avoid adversely affecting the hooves, it is best to provide enough space (5 m2) in the first two days of the mixed group and provide a solid floor with thick dunnage.

After staying in this "area" for a period of time, the hierarchy will be established among the sows. In order to stabilize this hierarchy, it is necessary to provide appropriate conditions in the sow's enclosure, including the feeding system, filling of the intestine, and conditions for comfort.

Intestinal filling: the sow will be calm when she is full

High-yield sows can feed more than 8 kg of concentrate feed per day during lactation. Therefore, it is conceivable that dry sows are certainly not at a single point of difficulty when feed intake is limited to 2.5 kg. The sorrow hunger in the case of monocoques does not cause significant management problems.

However, under conditions of group rearing, the situation is completely different. To keep the sows calm, they must be fed. Otherwise, there will be problems such as restlessness, skin, vulva and hoof injuries, and low conception rates.

Comfortable lying comfort

The sow rests most of the time. Therefore, the sows must be provided with suitable facilities to keep them warm in cold weather, such as providing thermal insulation materials and/or heating the floor of a pig house or a reclining area. In hot weather, it is necessary to properly cool the sows. Therefore, for high-production sows, lying directly on the slatted floor will affect the production performance. In cold climates, the floor in the reclining area should be at least a thermal insulation floor. It is best to provide enough dry litter.

Table 2. Relationship between floor temperature and body condition scores in sow lying area

Figure 3. Comparison of sow hoof conditions in the lying area with litter and without litter. (Hahn, Boxberg, 2009)

The sow's skin temperature is about 28C - the same as humans - the placement of the lying area should ensure that the skin temperature can be easily maintained. Table 2 points out this problem. The leaner sow cannot raise the slatted floor temperature to 28C. In this situation, sows are more prone to colds, cystitis and other diseases. In addition, in this case, the pig will adopt a more abdominal posture rather than a more relaxed side posture. The abdomen is the biggest cause of leg and hooves injuries. Providing dry straw litter in the reclining area is a very good way to reduce hoof damage (Figure 3).

Figure 4. The structure of a double-row pig house for pregnant sows. Different areas are equipped with different insulation materials. Figure 5. Structure of a single sow house in a pregnant sow. The roof is facing south and photocells (meters) are installed.

As can be seen in Figures 4 and 5, the gestation sow pens are divided into lying, feeding and defecate areas. The floor and walls of the lying area are insulated.

Some issues with gilt management

The most important: gilts are the "crown jewels" on every farm. Therefore, do not provide them with rough conditions such as finishing pigs.

Many of the problems with sows today are due to insufficient attention to the needs of gilts in the past.

Gilt management guidelines

Swamps should be reared in small groups and each group of 6 to 10 should provide enough space (at least 3 square meters per gilt) so that they can perform adequate exercise training (strengthen the heart, muscles and fibers, immunity, etc.) Aspects of function)
Give them plenty of exercise every day to make them full and give them plenty of fresh air. Different insulation materials should be used for the lying area. (Hay hay mat, solid concrete floor)
Pay attention to whether the hoof is strong, clean, or worn. The gilt should be kept separately, but do not build close people far from the large group - pigs

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