Australian
pig expert Professor Paul Hughes highlighted the priorities for improvement in
pig reproduction this week at two BPEX Two-Tonne Sow events.
These included:
1. Gilt management!
- Too often, producers mate gilts who are not yet cycling properly – thinking that they’re second oestrus animals when, in fact, they are still only at first oestrus.
- Gilt culling policies need to be stricter. Around 1 in 10 gilts are sub-fertile so producers should focus on good oestrus detection and then cull the last ones to start cycling. Getting rid of poorer gilts at this stage will reduce low fertility throughout the herd.
2. Feeding strategies
3. Understanding exactly what is happening with regular and irregular
returns to service
Look out
for more information and Paul’s full presentation soon on the news and events
pages at www.bpex.org.uk
Paul has many years of pig farming
and research experience at the South
Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).
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