Page 18 of articles about management in Articles

In practice there aren’t any direct methods to measure lean reserves in the field. On an experimental level, generally, ultrasound machines are used to measure the loin thickness (LT) as an indicator of lean reserves (just as the dorsal fat measure, DFM, is taken as an indicator of fat reserves)

This may be a good option when farrowings and litter control during the first days are the priority.

On small farms it is better to group tasks on specific days, leaving other days with less tasks in order to organize days off...

It is practically impossible to inspect all the pigs individually during routine control visits.

The productive and behavioral results found in this study suggest that GRH immunization is an alternative to surgical castration.

In the last decades the degree of technification and evolution of the productive systems at all levels has been constant.

On large farms, it is common to wean more than once per week. This way, tasks can be homogenized throughout the week: each day will have a similar volume of work as the previous day.

A large part of the work on a swine farm can be divided into 3 key tasks: weaning, mating and farrowing. The day chosen for weaning determines the other two tasks; first, the matings, and then, as a consequence, the farrowings (the 2 ‘great events’ of which productivity of a farm depends on).

In the last chapter we examined mating guidelines that came rather close to being ideal, given that they achieve the following objectives: At least one mating should be adjusted to meet the ideal time and achieve the first objective with the least number of matings.

Without adding more space, the only way to accommodate an increase in weaning age is to decrease the breeding herd inventory.

The ideal mating guideline should follow 2 objectives: At least one mating should be adjusted to meet the ideal time and achieve the first objective with the least number of matings.

As mentioned in the previous chapter, theoretically, the ideal mating time is around 10-12 hours before ovulation.

As we discovered in the last chapter, there are no “traditional” BM systems lasting over one week that allow for weaning at 28 days with a 5-week rotation time. However, breaking with the theoretical norms, we can wean at 28 days when working with batches every 5 weeks.

The optimal fertilization of a sow depends on several factors, among them, mating in a specific moment of the oestrus.

As mentioned in the first chapter of planning weaning, after deciding which sows are going to be weaned, on weaning day we must take into account several factors...

What level of welfare needs to be applied in the case of sows housed in groups, and fed dry feed?