An analysis of survey data by size of the breeding herd for the reproductive management practices of North American sow farms
| Autor: | Robert V. Knox, T. J. Safranski, W. L. Singleton, N. L. Sloter, K. A. Mcnamara, T. J. Gall, Donald G. Levis, S. L. Rodriguez Zas |
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| Rok vydání: | 2012 |
| Předmět: |
Male
endocrine system Veterinary medicine Swine animal diseases medicine.medical_treatment media_common.quotation_subject Fertility Culling Biology Breeding Insemination Animal science Genetics medicine Animals Animal Husbandry media_common urogenital system business.industry Artificial insemination Data Collection Reproduction General Medicine Animal husbandry North America Estrus Detection Herd Animal Science and Zoology Livestock Female business Food Science |
| Zdroj: | Journal of animal science. 91(1) |
| ISSN: | 1525-3163 |
| Popis: | A survey was performed to assess whether reproductive management differed among small-sized (Sm,500 sows), medium-sized (M, 501 to 2,000 sows), and large-sized (Lg, 2,001 to 8,000 sows) farms (n=113). Farms with 501 to 4000 sows/barn were most frequent with sows kept in stalls on 90% of farms. More Lg farms (P0.05) functioned as breed to wean and more Sm and M as farrow to finish. More Sm and Lg farms weaned at21 d, whereas M farms were more likely to wean at 18 to 21 d (P0.05). More Lg farms had farrowing rates above 89% than Sm and M farms (P0.05), and culling rates above 40% were more frequent on M and Lg farms than on S. On M and Lg farms, sows were bred in larger batches, using lower person to sow ratios, and with more people required than on Sm farms (P0.05). More (P0.05) M and Lg farms spent time moving sows and on records, but hours devoted to estrous detection, breeding, and other tasks did not differ among farms (P0.10). More M and Lg farms used more boars for estrus detection, rotated boars, and controlled boar movement than Sm farms (P0.05). Farm size also influenced semen sourcing, number of doses received, and frequency of semen delivery (P0.05). More M and Lg farms performed AI in the presence of a boar, left the AI rod in after AI, checked for returns, and diagnosed pregnancy than Sm farms (P0.05). Start of boar exposure after weaning began on 69% of farms within 2 d, occurring most often in the AM, but with exposure times varying from 1 to 5 min/sow. Semen was thermally protected for 50% of farms receiving shipments, and semen storage was consistent among farms. For AI, service occurred within minutes to hours after detection of estrus on 61% of farms. During AI, procedures such as back-pressure were required, whereas techniques such as hands-free AI were prohibited on most farms. Sow movement was allowed only once at 4 wk after breeding on 50% of farms, and pregnancy diagnosis occurred at 3 to 5 wk on 78% of farms. Most sows were allowed ≥1 chance for breeding after conception failure before culling. Incidence of fail to farrow was5% and litter size was 10 to 13 pigs on82% of farms. Summer infertility was observed on 69% of farms with estrus and pregnancy failures the leading causes. Over 70% of farms reported a technician effect on fertility. These results suggest that reproductive management of farms in key areas related to weaning, breeding, gestation, and labor use could be a source of variation in reproductive performance. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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