Focus on piglet survival via birth weight registration

Or breeding program has a special focus on piglet survival as well as robust and efficient pigs. To further strengthen that goal, we have launched a project of individual birth weight registration for all born purebred Landrace and Yorkshire piglets in our breeding herds.

Breeding for more robust pigs

We do this to be able to breed for more robust pigs and higher piglet survival. From an economic, environmental, and animal welfare point of view, piglet survival is of great importance. With our handheld scanner we scan the pigs electronic ear tag and register its ID number. The scanner is connected to the weight through Bluetooth. This is way we can register the piglet’s weight directly in our database. Due to the construction of the trolley, where the weight is placed, the registration of birth weight can be done in connection with the routine handling of the newborn litters.

All registrations are transferred directly to our database

These data help us to:

• Improve our work with breeding
• Future implementation of breeding goals

The large amounts of data that we collect are an important part of our breeding work and allow us to work with future implementation of breeding goals for birth weight and birth weight variation in the litter. It should help ensure robust pigs with a higher piglet survival.