What are practical measures to improve pig reproductive efficiency
Breeding pigs are the most fundamental component of @#@227@#@ production. The level of breeding pig reproductive efficiency is affected by many aspects, including breed type, nutrition and feed, feeding management techniques, environmental conditions, breeding techniques, and the health level of the pigs. The economic benefits of a pig farm are inseparable from the level of reproductive performance. The following is a summary of how to improve reproductive efficiency based on current pig production technology.
1 Strengthen feeding management and make full use of the reproductive peak period
Pigs have a relatively long lifespan, but their reproductive years are not long, especially the optimal reproductive stage, which is relatively short. The period from when young boars and sows reach sexual maturity to when they decline with old age is the reproductive lifespan, and the stage with the highest reproductive efficiency is the optimal reproductive stage. The length of the optimal reproductive period and the quality of reproductive performance are likewise related to breed type, feeding level, feeding management techniques, health status, and the intensity of mating use. After young boars and sows enter reproduction, their performance continuously improves. From 2.0 to 3.5 years of age, that is, from the 3rd to the 6th parity, is the stage with the highest reproductive efficiency, after which it gradually declines.
2 Increase the service life of breeding pigs
Modern pig production practices year-round balanced farrowing, and the intensity of breeding pig use is relatively high. Slight impropriety can shorten the service life of breeding pigs. The service life of the sow herd is best kept under 3 years. There are two aspects to the reasons for being culled early: first, reproductive disorders appear, and sows are culled due to failure to come into estrus, failure to ovulate, abortion, absence of milk after farrowing, and low piglet survival rate; second, health is impaired, with the body condition being excessively thin or excessively fat, causing reduced fertility; third, they are culled due to leg disease, paralysis, or other diseases, or they die.
3 Increase the service life of sows
Increasing the service life of sows can reduce the cost of raising replacement pigs and increase the number of piglets produced per year and the number of weaned piglets, thereby improving the economic benefits of the pig farm. The service life of sows is best over 3 years, that is, an annual culling rate of no more than 30% is preferable.
4 Timely cull old, weak, and sick pigs
Although increasing the service life of breeding pigs was mentioned above, there must be a limit; the longer the better is not necessarily true, and they should be culled in a timely manner once they exceed the optimal reproductive period. In production, although some older breeding pigs produce a considerable number of piglets, sows often have little milk after farrowing, and the piglets have low vitality, are difficult to keep alive, and grow relatively slowly.
The advantages of young breeding pigs are: boars have high libido, fast sexual reflexes, good semen quality, high conception rate, and agile bodies with strong limbs; sows show obvious estrus symptoms, have a high conception rate, produce many live piglets, have a high survival rate, and the piglets are robust, have strong vitality, and grow quickly, while the sows have high continuous reproductive performance and strong nursing ability.
5 Increase the number of litters per year for sows
The reproductive cycle of a sow includes three stages: the open period, gestation period, and lactation period. The gestation period of a sow is 114 d. At present, the lactation period in better regions is 30 to 35 d, and the open period averages 10 to 15 d. Thus, one reproductive cycle of a sow is 154 d (114 + 30 + 10) or 164 d (114 + 35 + 15). There are 365 d in 1 year. The number of litters per year for a sow is 2.37 litters (365/154) or 2.23 litters (365/164), respectively. In pig production, the number of litters per year for sows on pig farms is far below the above indicators because the number of days from weaning to re-mating exceeds 10 to 15 d, and in some cases is even more. How to shorten the number of days in the open period of sows is the key to increasing the number of days of litter production per year for sows. Through good feeding management, keeping multiple open sows in group housing, and comprehensive measures such as using adult breeding boars for estrus detection every day, their return to estrus and mating can be promoted.
6 Increase the number of piglets per litter for sows
Through scientific feeding management, promote estrus and ovulation in sows. By mating at the right time, increasing the number of matings (2 to 3 times), and raising gestating sows well to prevent embryonic death, it is possible to produce more piglets and effectively improve the economic benefits of the pig farm.