Gilt management for increased sow lifetime productivity

Good gilt management for improved future production and ROI

Focusing on good gilt management is a critical component of the sow unit. Because gilts are the foundation of good production, they drive farm success now and into the future. Looking ahead, one of the goals is to improve sow lifetime productivity. 

“Lifetime productivity itself is a function of two main factors: retention and longevity,” Patterson says. “We look at how long that female remains in the herd and also productivity, meaning how many pigs she produces during her lifetime. The goal is to achieve this as efficiently as possible. So, fertility is an important component of sow lifetime productivity.” 

Sow lifetime productivity is a very hard trait to measure on the farm. It is both a long process and a very complex trait. A gilt becomes a replacement female at birth, with the goal that it will make at least three parities. It has been reported that parities 2 to 5 are the most productive parities. Further, the data shows at three parities, the female becomes a positive return on investment.

“Sow lifetime productivity is a very complex trait because there are so many different factors during a females’ productive lifetime that can positively and negatively affect your future production,” Patterson says.

What factors affect sow lifetime productivity?

It is very important to work with industry and organization professionals to have a team approach to improving sow lifetime productivity. Factors that affect productivity include: 

• Genetics
• Health programs
•  Nutrition
•  Environment
• People 
•  Biosecurity

“Having looked at large datasets, I think one of the biggest opportunities in our industry right now is to focus on early parity loss,” Patterson says. “This is the loss between P1 and P2. We need to make this better. Doing this is one of the ways we’re going to set these gilts up for future sow lifetime productivity.” 

Developing a successful gilt management plan

Focusing on the time from selection to the time the female enters gilt development, there are four key components. These include:

1. Age at puberty, which is driven by the age at start of puberty stimulation
2. Age at service
3.  Weight at service
4. Heat no service, which means having at least one previous detected heat at service

“I would recommend producers talk to their individual genetic suppliers because there are some very fine differences between these targets, but overall, they are very similar,” Patterson says. “The goal is all the same: to set that gilt up such that when she enters the farrowing room, she’s set up for future performance.”

This means she is going to make it through that first lactation, wean a good litter and be rebred to farrow Parity 2. All four of these components are equally important to achieving a successful gilt.

“These are not four independent traits,” Patterson says. “We have to view them as part of a more holistic approach and try to breed as many gilts meeting all these targets.”

Patterson likens this holistic approach to having four wheels on a well-functioning car. Each tire is important to make the car run properly.

“If you put a spare tire on one or two of those wheels and expect the car to function optimally, it won’t,” Patterson says. “When we target all four traits, we’re starting to set these gilts up for improved sow lifetime productivity.”

How do these traits lead to greater lifetime sow productivity?

Although these four components are not independent targets, they do have individual positive effects on future performance. 

Age of puberty. For example, when we look at the first component, age of puberty, data shows conclusive results. Those gilts who reach an early age of puberty, considered “select” females, have an increased sow lifetime productivity compared to those later-responding, older gilts. The select females will have increased retention, better farrowing rates, more pigs born alive and fewer non-productive days.

Age of service. The second target, age of service, is intrinsically related to age at puberty. Here, we see many of the same benefits. But if we start bringing the gilts to service too late, we see a negative effect resulting in decreased retention and a risk of being bred overweight. The result will be lower-efficiency sows.

Weight at service. Weight drives overall retention. Those gilts with a weight greater than approximately 160-170 kg, depending on the recommendations of the genetic line, will have lower retention rate and an increased mature body size. This means throughout their productive life, they will cost more to feed and may be a welfare concern. Heavy weights at service are culled early, often due to lameness issues.  This is a balance because gilts should not be bred too light, which is less than 135 to 140 kg, depending on genetic supplier. Lightweight gilts may have decreased first litter size and may not perform well during first lactation.

Heat-no-service. If there is one heat no service, the first service will result in increased farrowing rate and litter size. This doesn’t just impact the first litter; this translates to future production. When we see gilts that have had a heat no service, these gilts have better retention rates and more pigs born alive.

Selecting for better sow lifetime productivity

There are many factors to consider when developing a plan to select for better sow lifetime productivity. Patterson suggests looking at some key areas to help set up gilts for success, including:

Puberty stimulation and heat detection. Because selecting for better sow lifetime productivity is complex, it is hard to do. One of the best ways to achieve this is the implementation of a good puberty stimulation and heat detection program. These are two very different jobs within the gilt development unit. Patterson advises starting puberty stimulation early.

“I would recommend no later than 170 days of age, maybe even a bit younger, because this is the only way for us to hit these targets,” Patterson says. “For example, if you start puberty stimulation at 200 days of age, given the growth rates we see in our industry today, most of those gilts might be heavier than those target weights and will have to be bred in first oestrus. This means the real driving force to get these gilts set up right is early puberty stimulation.”

Boar. Another key factor to good gilt development is the boar, which also is one of the most under-recognized components of any gilt puberty stimulation program.

•  Having a good replacement program in place is critical to making sure good boars are coming up. 
•  Direct contact is better than fence line contact. Bringing the gilts to the boars is preferred to taking the boars to the gilts.
•  Understanding that labor is a concern, and many producers use fence line contact, make sure not to only use one boar all day in gilt development units checking all those gilts. Patterson sees some producers using groups of boars or gangs of 8 to 10 boars in the alleyway for maximum stimulation in the fence line approach.

People. Because the gilt development program is critical to future production, Patterson recommends having an elevated position such as a GDU manager or GDU lead. This gives key people the recognition they need since they really are the foundation of future production.

Data. Managing and measuring the components of the gilt development program are essential. So get accurate information and create reports. This is crucial to seeing outcomes and making data-driven decisions. Good data opens the door for analytics to drive future production. Sometimes there is an abundance of data, so figuring out how to apply the data is important too.

P1 Development. Good gilt management does not stop with just the first service. Remember that our goal is for gilts to farrow the first parity, wean a good litter and be rebred and farrow Parity 2.

“I would encourage us to expand our view on what we think gilt management is and expand that to P1 development,” Patterson says. “Keep the view that the gilt is still developing and our goal is to rebreed her at Parity 2.”

Again, important factors to achieve this goal are:

•  Feed management during gestation
•  Body Condition (weight) at entering the farrowing room
•  Management of both the sow and the piglets during the first lactation
•  Management post weaning and post breeding

“We really have to start with the end in mind,” Patterson says. “We know we want improved sow lifetime productivity, so we have to make sure we set those gilts up right to achieve that.”