Tools and strategies for optimizing the reproductive performance of sows

Description

Fertility of the swine breeding is high when considering measures for estrus, farrowing and litter sizes. The success in reproduction is a result of an array of factors that involve genetics, health, environment, and reproductive technologies. The population of females in the breeding herd is managed to optimize parity, sow retention, and gilt replacement. Key elements to fertility include selection and management of gilts for early puberty and managing body condition in gestating sows to optimize feed intake during lactation. Artificial insemination technologies are evolving to facilitate gene transfer from high indexing sires through use of lower number of sperm per litter produced. Changes in breeding herd size, housing systems, labor, and litter size, place emphasis on efficiency and throughput. In these intense systems, infertility can create issues in animal flow throughout the production chain and management will need to anticipate and adapt to prevent these problems in the future.

Table of contents

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Sow herd performance metrics
• 3 Gilt selection and development impacts first parity sow fertility
• 4 Managing factors during lactation to impact sow fertility
• 5 Management of reproduction in weaned sows
• 6 Use of artificial insemination technologies for breeding pigs
• 7 Use of hormones to control female pig fertility
• 8 Managing sows during gestation for fertility
• 9 Housing and environmental effects on pig fertility
• 10 Conclusion and future trends
• 11 Where to look for further information
• 12 References