It is
important to assess sow body condition accurately to ensure that appropriate
nutrition is provided to each sow for maintenance, growth, reproduction and
lactation.
There
should be minimal variation in condition throughout a sow’s productive life and
producers should aim for an optimal average condition score of 3 (on a scale of
1 to 5) throughout the breeding herd.
Score sows
at key times in the reproductive cycle and always score the sows by touch,
using the palm of the hand as it is more accurate than just scoring ‘by eye’.
Consider the shoulders, ribs, backbone and hips, not just one location.
For more information on the Breed+3
initiative and to download the factsheet,
Hey Angela,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the informative blog. Its truly helpful in my farm. Keep Posting. Good Going!!