Scottish Professional Pig Managers` Group

Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
30th Apr 2013
Summary
“Seasonal Infertility”
Dear Managers,
Below is a summary of the key points & suggestions that came from our last meeting.
The meeting opened with Dr Jill Thomson of the SAC delivering results of the recent Seasonal Infertility
Survey. In these results there were many interesting points
• 53 businesses approached – 47 responded (89%)
• 29 units affected (62% of responders), 18 unaffected (38% responders)
• Average onset – service week 32
• Average duration – 9 weeks
• Resulting shortfall of pigs – average 361/unit (wide range)
• Total shortfall - approx 22,000 pigs
Key Questions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Indoor vs outdoor?
Batch farrowing vs weekly farrowing?
Gilts synchronised vs not synchronised?
AI or boar?
Dam-line genetic supplier?
Mycotoxin binders helpful?
PRRS and or Swine flu?
Some of the key risk factors as reported by the respondents are
•
•
•
•
•
Tendency to occur with:
Larger herds
Outdoors
Batch farrowing
Gilts synchronised
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
1. From the table below it is clear to see the larger herds tend to suffer from Seasonal Infertility, with the
herds suffering averaging 871 sows compared to the herds with no problem averaging 336.
Number of sows
Seasonal infertility
Average / herd
No
336
Yes
871
2. Looking at the actual production systems, there were more outdoor herds affected than not, equally the
opposite applied to the indoor herds, though the differences were not significant.
90
80
70
60
% of
Herds
50
Not affected
40
Affected
30
20
10
0
Indoor
Outdoor
Both
3. With regard to weekly or batch farrowing, there were slightly more of the batch farrowing farms with a
Seasonal Infertility problem & these tended towards the 2 weekly system, the weekly farms had a
slightly lower problem with Seasonal Infertility.
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
4. With regard to genetics, the respondents reported, in their experiences there is some coloration between
certain genetics & the occurrence of Seasonal Infertility. From the graph below it should be noted both
“B” & “D” have a similar relative incidence, the only difference being “B” had more respondents.
5. There were however no appreciable trends with the following
•
Sire-line by company
•
AI only
•
Boar only
•
AI + boar
6. Perhaps surprising to many; as the age of the sow increased the incidence of Seasonal Infertility
decreased.
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
7. Looking at the impact of Seasonal Infertility, it was clearly demonstrated in the graph below some
farms during the affected time of year had conceptions rates of less than 60%. The vast majority of
returns were also reported as being irregular, occurring between 25 & 60 days.
8. The following points seems to have no appreciable trends
•
Pregnancy testing (ultrasound)
•
Time of pregnancy testing post-service
•
Change to daily serving times
•
% abortions
•
% not in pig at farrowing
9. With regard to health, whilst according to the respondents neither PRRS nor flu independently were
an issue. However, where both are present in the same herd, then there would appear a distinctly
higher risk of Seasonal Infertility.
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
10. In summary
•
Larger herds – staff time/resource?
•
Gilts and younger parities
•
Irregular-type returns, from ~ week 32, for ~ 9 weeks
•
Trend - outdoors
•
Losing light (service area OK, but what about after that?)
•
PRRS + SIV, but vaccines equally used
•
No clear health-related issues
•
Other areas not addressed – feeding, group dynamics, stress
•
Dam-line trend – increased care and provision required for some genotypes of pigs?
•
Slight trend with batch systems – why?
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
To continue we heard from John Mackinnon of “Pig Health & Production Consultancy” & the 10 keys
points he communicates to his clients to aid the control of Seasonal Infertility.
1.
Reproductive failure is expensive
Based upon a real example, around £1.50 per day is the daily cost of keeping a sow in the herd, simply
calculated by knowing the entire running costs of you breeding herd. In the example John demonstrated
a herd of approx 360 sows had an annual breeding herd expenditure of nearly £200,000 and a drop in
the potential farrowing index of 2.46, to approximately 2.3, this equated through to a shortfall in
revenue per pig sold of approx £11.50. From John’s clear calculations, he demonstrated, 1 empty day =
0.074 pigs lost/sow/year. (Do the calculations, it can be frightening)
2. Reproductive failure is multi-factorial
John’s diagram below says more than I could say in any summary, with more than 20 potential causes
& innumerable combinations therein.
Infertility
Failure to maintain pregnancy
Disease
Infectious
Primary
Toxicoses
Secondary
Nutrition
Management
Physical condition
System
Environment
Uro-genital
Systemic
Failure of fertilisation
Season/climate
Stressors
Housing
Male factors
Boar presence
Female age range
Season/climate
Female factors
Semen quality
Libido
AI
Age
Oestrus
Season
Expression
Disease
Repeat breeders
Mating quality
Ability to mate
Age/storage
Technique
Cystic ovaries
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
3. Conclusive Diagnosis is Often Never Reached
a. A strongly held belief that only infectious agents cause reproductive failure
i.
Enthusiastic over-reliance on dubious serology
b. Failure to watch and appraise breeding management
i.
You can’t tell me how to manage my service area
c. Failure to recognise the biological requirements of sows and boars
i.
The buildings and facilities are state of the art (by whose standards?)
d. Widely differing opinion on requirements for comfort, hygiene and body condition
i.
I’ve always kept them like this and nothing has changed
4. Seasonally sub standard fertility is real & is related to the rate of change of day length, as per
diagram opposite.
a. Increase in returns to service
b. Increase in phantom pregnancies
c. Increase in the number of abortions
d. Reduction in numbers born
e. Increased pre-weaning mortality
f. Lower weaning weights
Our domestic pig has retained some of the ancestral
seasonality of the European Wild Pig which is a
seasonal short-day breeder.
30
25
20
15
10
In a survey (Wrathall et al 1986) of 7 Southern UK herds, blood progesterone in pregnant sows
ranged from 14.8ng/ml to 25.73ng/ml (p<0.001) (graph below). In the graph it is clearly
demonstrated progesterone was at its lowest in the autumn rising to
25.73 b
its highest in winter (perhaps getting ready for spring farrowings).
22.12 b
In another study (Peters and Pitt 2003) looking at numbers born
19.75 b
relative to service month in 20 outdoor herds from 1989 to 1995 a
14.8 a
clear pattern was observed with numbers born down by half a pig
per litter in the service months August to October compared to
January to April.
5
0
Autumn Winter
Spring Summer
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
5. Do not compromise boar fertility & management
Whether buying or collecting on farm, quality of semen storage is paramount. To put it into
perspective, colossal amounts of time & money are spent managing the reproductive performance of
gilts & sows. Without good quality semen all the time & money are spent managing the females
could be wasted for the want of a good quality semen cabinet.
6. Do not compromise sows & gilts at anytime
a.
–
–
–
Be kind to gilts
“Hardening off” can be unduly stressful
“Bugging-up” can bugger them up
Properly managed development and acclimatisation is of paramount importance
b. Lactation is the focal point of everything
– You can’t feed too much during lactation
c. Maintain as high a standard of health as possible
– Appropriate biosecurity, vaccination, etc.
d. Take a flexible approach to feeding
– Condition at all times
7. Manage wean to oestrus period
This should come as no surprise, in the below the effect of boars on standing reflex of sows in
oestrus (Signoret et al. 1961) was reported as follows
Boar stimuli
% sows showing
standing reflex
None
48
Sound and smell
90
Sight, sound and smell
97
Sight, sound, smell and touch
100
Obviously, there is a negative correlation between the duration of the wean to oestrus period & the
subsequent conception and subsequent litter size.
•
Efficiency of farrowing and uterine involution
•
Nutrition during lactation and bodyfat reserves
•
Length of lactation
•
Boar presence after weaning
•
Stress factors after weaning
•
Environmental temperatures
•
Day-length/light intensity
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
8. Timing is everything
Source: Weitze (1994) and unashamedly stolen from
one of Christianne Glossop’s slides!
Accurate heat detection is essential for correct timing of insemination/service
•
Variation in intensity of oestrus
– Behaviour, external signs and duration of oestrus
•
Unsuitable environmental conditions
– Restricted movement, overcrowding, poor lighting, poor air quality, lack of boar stimulation
•
Inhibition of signs of oestrus
– Pain, injury, disease, fear
•
Signs of oestrus not observed
– Poor records, poor stockmanship, poor management, ineffective boar
– Check for oestrus in free-standing sows or gilts twice per day.
9. Manage the first 35 days of pregnancy carefully
•
•
•
•
•
•
Maintain boar presence
Avoid environmental stress factors
Be aware of social interactions between old (big) and young (small) sows and gilts
Do not be frightened to feed to condition, but do not overfeed
Identify and deal with all returns
Be aware of bullying, pain and stress
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
10. Maintain an optimum herd profile
•
Most of the problems are caused by 10% of the breeding herd
•
The most productive sows tend to be in parities 3, 4 and 5
•
Identify poor performers and cull them
•
Use ultrasound scanning to identify failures early and to avoid “passengers”
•
Everything pregnant by 42 days post first service or culled
11. Mitigation of (seasonal) infertility
–
Identify specific unit risk factors in first quarter of year
–
Commence specific measures in April
–
Careful control of sow condition for time of the year
–
Careful boar and semen management, especially April to September
–
Mate at least 10% more gilts in spring
–
Maintain good boar contact in first 35 days of pregnancy
–
Separate gilts and young sows in early pregnancy
–
Light and bright in the service area
–
Cull repeat breeders in August, September and October
–
Lactation more than three weeks
–
High feed and water intake during last week of lactation
–
Suckling litter size of more than 8 piglets
–
High feed intake between weaning and insemination
–
Maintain 16-17 hours light per day during lactation and in the insemination area
–
Ensure accurate detection of oestrus
–
Do not overuse boars
–
Adhere to strict protocols for semen collection, processing and insemination
–
Target 95% of inseminations within 6 days of weaning
–
Avoid stress and overfeeding in early pregnancy
–
Maintain optimum parity structure of the herd
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
George Anderson Seasonal Infertility “My Experiences”
George manages a breeding herd of 825 sows, though due to Seasonal Infertility at certain times of the year
this approaches 1,000.The herd farrows every two weeks with piglets weaned at 5 weeks of age, for the last
12 months the herd has averaged 10.1 piglets per litter weaned. The current health status is as listed below.
•
PRRS –ve
•
EP –ve
•
PCV2 +ve (CircoFLEX )
•
Mycotoxin Binders
•
SIV (flu) –ve?
The production system is located on 2 sites, 12 miles apart by road. The farrowing site is wean to 35kgs,
with the finishing site taking these 35kgs pigs & sexing them. From 35kgs to slaughter they move through 3
pens (approx 350 per pen) finishing nearest to the weigh point where all pigs are weighed to maximise both
kilograms sold & terms of contracts.
For the last number of years George’s herd has
suffered from severe & highly consistent Seasonal
Infertility. Most years the condition starts in week
35, only last year did it occur earlier, perhaps due to
the severe weather conditions. The graph opposite
from Checkmate clearly demonstrates this (the years
are stacked on top of each other).
The table below uncannily shows the extreme
regularity of the condition & coincides exactly with
the graph in John Mackinnon’s point 4 on page 7,
which shows it is not the length of day that is
important, but instead it is the rate of change of day length that is of the greater importance.
The diagram below clearly demonstrates this.
The horizontal axis represents
a calendar year starting on
March 21 and ending on the
next March 21. The vertical
axis represents the relative
length of day. Notice that the
slope is steepest at the
equinoxes and shallowest at
the solstices. The change in length of day is rapid at the
equinoxes, (week 38) and slow as molasses at the solstices.
(http://cycletourist.com/Miscellany/Length_of_day.html)
Week
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
38 is almost exactly in the middle of the Seasonal Infertility period George experiences each year.
For George who targets 750 pigs weaned each fortnight, the effect of summer infertility has had a dramatic
effect on pig flow. As seen in the graph below there are colossal swings in numbers of piglets produced, this
in turn has huge negative effects on both stocking density for the growing herd and the planning of sales.
1100
980
860
900
700
1010
780
904
932
932
772
637
676
611
536
611
500
300
291
100
To bring the meeting to a point where we could offer George we ideas we sought suggestions from the
group based upon the information supplied by Jill & John. The major suggestions are listed below
1.
Reduce stress by trying to separate smaller animals from larger e.g. separate parity 1 & 2 from
parities 5 & 6
2.
Revue rations or feed regime to improve sow body condition, can sows be fed twice daily in
lactation
3.
Consider weaning gilts at 4 weeks lactation, down from 5 weeks to improve sow body condition
4.
Consider changing herd to a 4 week weaning down from 5 weeks of age to improve sow body
condition
5.
Consider adding piglet feed & water availability while on sow to improve sow body condition
6.
Consider changing batching system to 3 weekly & wean at 4 weeks of age to improve sow body
condition
NOTE – The above should not be ruled out for any farm
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
Our penultimate speaker was Gordon McKen of Scottish Pig Producers. Gordon described pig meeting as
being at its most expensive ever, however as we all know feed prices are equally high.
DAPP Annual Average
158.19
149.92
150
145.38
141.80
P
e
n130
c
e
125.62
108.03
110
p
e
r 90
144.55
103.47
103.87
103.83
104.61
2003
2004
2005
2006
98.11
94.49
81.35
93.84
79.27
K
g 70
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
50
From 1998
Relative to our European neighbours, our UK price is relatively good.
For week of 18th May 2013 the DAPP has increased to 164.03p
Further points from Gordon related to the introduction of “Real Welfare” in England, this could have
significant cost implications for Scottish producers & no financial gain. We also received an update on
proposed developments at Tulip, Brechin along an update on the ongoing discussions with retailers; Asda,
Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury & Aldi.
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
To close we herd from Stephen Waite of our meeting sponsor JSR. As so often heard through out the day,
one key message was to reduce “female stress”
Equally, we were shown research clearly demonstrating the relationship between average numbers born per
litter compared to temperature at time of service. This showed a drop in numbers born of up to 2.5 as
temperatures at service reached a peak of 230C. See graph below
14.00
25
13.50
20
13.00
12.50
15
12.00
11.50
Av. Born
10
11.00
5
10.50
10.00
0
Av. Temp @ Service
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
Going on, we heard some performance figure relating to some of JSR’s sire lines. Firstly, looking at
“customer data relating to the GC 400 (Hampshire).
Gc400 Progeny
Weaner/Growers
Finishers
Numbers In
66,694
33,255
Numbers Out
64,926
32,668
Weight In
7.1 kg
45.2 kg
Weight Out
44.1 kg
104.2 kg
Growth Rate
564 g/day
941 g/day
FCR
1.85
2.63
Feed Intake
1.04 kg/day
2.57 kg/day
Mortality
2.65%
1.77%
Of the Geneconvertor 800m, we were shown how in trials it our performed other commercially available
sire lines.
Geneconverter
800m
Leading Competitor Sire Line Genetics
Birth Weight (kg)
1.81
1.60
1.69
1.72
Weaning Weight (kg)
9.32
8.77
8.42
8.83
Weight @ slaughter (kg)
106.2
101.9
103.5
104.8
Days to Slaughter
151.6
154.8
157.4
155.3
Growth Wean-Finish (g/day)
781.4
730.6
734.2
751.2
FCR Wean-Finish
2.11
2.18
2.08
2.08
P2 (mm)
11.0
11.0
11.0
12.0
Carcase Weight
80.8
77.6
78.6
79.9
KO%
76.1
75.2
75.9
76.2
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
Part of the above research according to Steve showed JSR had “All the Gear & No Idea,” this related to their
new auto-sorter building. Whilst it was a new build, it took a lot of learning to get it to function efficiently,
through trial and error & generally learning how to operate the new building FCR ultimately improved by
0.3 to 2.2, (8kgs to slaughter).
As a genetics company, not all work is related to production, a huge amount of both effort & money is also
invested in eating quality, to this end JSR have invested in their own cookery school
(www.yorkshirewoldscookeryschool.co.uk)
As the greater amount of eating pleasure relates more to tenderness than the actual taste, JSR have analysed
pork bought from the retail counters of the major supermarkets.
Tenderscot Shear Force
Sample
Ref
Supermarket
Standard
Tenderscot Bite Score
Average
(kg)
Sample
Ref
Supermarket
Standard
Average
(kg)
7
Supermarket A
Premium
11.93
8
Supermarket A
Premium
3.22
9
Supermarket H
Standard
12.54
14
Supermarket A
Standard
3.90
19
Supermarket D
Standard
12.82
16
Supermarket C
Standard
4.13
11
Supermarket B
Standard
13.89
6
Supermarket F
Standard
4.16
5
Supermarket F
Standard
13.90
20
Supermarket D
Standard
4.28
17
Supermarket E
Standard
14.12
18
Supermarket E
Standard
4.84
15
Supermarket C
Standard
14.24
22
Supermarket G
Standard
4.87
13
Supermarket A
Standard
14.54
4
Supermarket D
Premium
4.89
21
Supermarket G
Standard
14.55
2
Supermarket E
Standard
5.20
1
Supermarket E
Standard
15.24
26
Supermarket C
Deli Counter
6.93
25
Supermarket C
Deli Counter
15.32
3
Supermarket D
Premium
31.72
The interesting point above is Supermarket D selling a Premium product had the highest shear force & one
of the highest bite forces, from this & the feedback to the supermarkets JSR are striving to improve the
eating experience for the general public, if successful this should greatly help the desirability of British Pork
products.
Scottish Professional Pig Managers’ Group
“Together, sharing knowledge, improving production & efficiencies”
To close, we are still to set a date for our next meeting. However, from the suggestions put forward at the
last meeting we have opted for “Farrowing Room Management”, as a topic this also relates to a proposed
topic for QMS’ Monitor Farm meetings, this will include the management of gilts from the pre-farrowing
phase through lactation to 35 days post service. Whilst we have not yet spoken to a manager, a guest
manager from England has been suggested, he currently manages indoor 1,400 sows on a weekly farrowing
regime, and he is Scottish.
Lastly, we would like to express our sincere thanks to our speakers
Prof Jill Thomson
- SAC
John Mackinnon
- Pig Health & Production Consultancy
George Anderson
- Batchelor’s of Carnoustie
Gordon McKo closeen
Stephen Waite
- Scottish Pig Producers
- JSR
Regards,
Regards,
Allan
Iain
Allan Ward
Pig Development Manager
Quality Meat Scotland
Mobile: 07879 272 501
Fax: 0131 472 4038
Iain Lyle
Specialist Rep (Swine Products)
Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd
Tel 07836-685 865
Email: award@qmscotland.co.uk
iain.lyle@boehringer-ingelheim.com
http://www.flexcombo.com/