Culling, Mortality and Lifetime Production among U.S. Sows

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2010-01-01
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Engblom, Linda
Mabry, John
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Altmetrics
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Animal Science Research Reports
ASL R2562
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Abstract

To evaluate the present situation, sow removal and lifetime production was investigated among 132 U.S. pork producers participating in the Datashare program with PigCHAMP. Of the removed sows, 18% only produced one litter before removal, and less than 50% produced five litters. Most sows (32%) were removed due to reproductive disorders and only every fifth are removed due to old age. Of the removed sows 84% were slaughtered, 3% were euthanized on farm and 12% were mortalities found on farm. On average a sow weaned 40.6 piglets during her lifetime. There was a substantial variation between farms. Producers need to be aware of that too high and too early removal of sows result in lower profitability and evaluate their situation.

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Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 2010
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