Teagasc has confirmed that ‘born alive’ rates on Irish pig farms increased by a staggering 36% between 2000 and 2022.
These figures are all the more significant given the commercial pressures on pig businesses during the latter part this period; increasing feed costs allied to a fast weakening market for pork.
These figures were profiled at this week’s series of Teagasc annual pig conferences. The events were held across two venues in counties Tipperary and Cavan.
‘Born alive’ rate on pig farms
The actual ‘born alive’ figures per litter have increased from 10.8 in 2000 to 14.81 in 2022. The data relates to the actual performance achieved on commercial pig farms.
Specifically, where Teagasc is concerned, average piglet birth weight increased by 15% with average piglet weaning weight by 7.4% in the space of a year.
There are many factors coming into play here: Genetics; weaning age; sow diet; management; creep intake; etc.
In terms of the latest sow feeding practices followed by Teagasc, pregnant animals at Moorepark enter the farrowing room on day 108 of gestation.
They remain on the dry sow diet until the day after farrowing. This is composed mainly of barley, soya and soya hulls.
These ingredients contribute to a diet high in fibre (CF = 8.5%), as feeding a fibrous diet during gestation can help to increase intake during lactation.
The digestible energy of the diet is 13.2MJ/kg (N.E. = 9MJ/kg). The sows progress well on the feed curve when they start getting the lactation diet.
It is composed mainly of wheat, barley, soya and soya oil.
A lot of the energy and fat in the diet is derived from a high inclusion of soya oil (4.9%). It has a digestible energy is 15MJ/kg (N.E. = 10.8MJ/kg), with a fat content at 6.4% and total lysine content of 1.15%.
Moorepark
The Moorepark lactating sow curve increases quickly and the sows are eating over 8kg/day from day 11.
This feed is delivered in dry form through three equal portions over the normal working day to ensure sows are getting up and to check trough state prior to feeding.
The goal is to get as much energy into the sows as they need to provide enough for their litter without having to draw too much on their own body reserves.
Sow feeding levels are increased or decreased based on trough inspections.
Given that both the energy level of the diet and our curve are quite high, the sows in Moorepark don’t tend to lose much bodyweight during lactation.
Excessive bodyweight loss during lactation can adversely affect subsequent reproductive performance such as follicle development for instance.
This is important as this early follicle development is a major factor in determining the viability and size of the sows’ subsequent litters.