Articles - Management

Characteristics of the installations, genetics, medications, feeding, etc. of Spanish feedlots based on data of 452 farms that pertain to nine of the 25 biggest pig integration companies in the country.

A simple method to facilitate the daily calculation of the nurse sows needed for the correct running of the farrowing quarters in a hyperprolific sows system.

When there are not enough teats, the strongest piglet always occupies the place of the weak one, that is left without milk to suckle.

Normally, when we ask a farmer which is their average number of weaned piglets per sow they normally know this parameter, because its calculation is easy, nevertheless...

The aim of this trick is the improvement of the quality of the environment in the farrowing quarters for the sows as well as for the piglets, saving on energy consumption by means of the manufacturing of nests.

It is a widely documented fact that pig production has seasonal variations mainly focused on a descent in the reproductive efficiency in the gestation phase (difficulty in the coming into oestrus, a higher number of reproductive failures) during the summer and autumn months.

To accurately predict sow body weight by using their flank to flank measurement in order to determine daily feed intake or accurate medication dose.

In the previous piece of advice we saw that in small farms it could be interesting to maintain a certain order when entering the sows in the farrowing quarters depending on their parturition. Nevertheless, in big farms or in farms that group together many farrowings at the same time we will have to think about the order in another way, because if the farrowing quarters are not very big we will have the same batch of sows housed in several rooms.

The European Declaration on alternatives to the castration of pigs is a declaration that is a voluntary agreement in which, for the first time, the European swine farmers have manifested a proactive stance with the aim of presenting a solution, from the swine sector, to a social demand.

Lasso the pig with a metallic cable lasso and hold the end of the cable to a pen door or divider.

The losses due to diarrhoea problems appear concentrated, basically, during the first week in the weaners stage, whilst in the farms that have not suffered diarrhoea problems, the mortality is distibuted more evenly.

If once we have evened out the litters a sow farrows during the late evening, what do we do?

We hold the legs of the piglets together with plastic straps, avoiding that they move apart from each other.

We analyze a real case, and we will check out how a partial analysis of the data can give place to erroneous conclusions.

We are going to see a practical example of how to even out litters after the farrowings in a quick way and minimizing the swappings of piglets.

We are going to save money in heating during the weaners stage guaranteeing the thermal comfort of the piglets by creating two environments in the weaners stage defining an area for the nest and an outside area.

In this second article we are going to analyze the causes of these locomotive system disorders and the treatments to avoid them or to minimize their effects.

Apple juice is the favourite kind of juice for the sows during the training sessions.

Locomotor problems are serious, multi-factorial problems that aren’t well registered on farms, but for the most part are correctable.

Can we get to know if the behaviour, from the sanitary point of view, of a certain batch of animals during their growth stage is being correct? How can we achieve this?

To keep the piglets clean and to ensure their wellbeing during the carrying out of different handling procedures or the relocation of animals.

When the farrowings are programmed, their supervision has to be one of the main tasks in the farrowing quarters. The rest of the tasks must be organized in such a way that we can exert the maximum control over the programmed sows.

Short weaning to service interval isn’t always a synonym for good management, since we have to take into consideration not only average number of days, but also the effect on the percentage of distribution after returns.

The aim of this trick is to identify quickly and practically, the age of piglets and pigs just by looking at the color of their ear tag.