Dr. Chris Hostetler, National Pork Board, from the 2015 World Pork Expo, June 3 - 5, 2015, Des Moines, IA, USA.

1. Chris Hostetler
Director of Animal Science
National Pork Board
Improving Sow Lifetime Productivity

2. Definition
• The total number of
quality pigs a female
weans from the time
she becomes breeding
eligible until she leaves
the herd.

3. Factors Affecting Sow Lifetime Productivity
• Gilt development methods
• Gilt selection and utilization rates
• Sow retention
• Number of pigs weaned per litter
• Farrowing rate
• Sow livability
• Seasonal variation
• Litter of Origin

4. Litter of origin data
• Tissue for genotyping
• Male:Female
• Blood samples for immunocrit
• Number fully formed piglets born
• Number born alive
• Dam ID
• Parity of dam
• Day 1 weight of each piglet
• Number weaned
• Weaning weight of each piglet

5. Challenges with Sow Lifetime Productivity
• Not routinely assessed or monitored
• Not commonly available on most sow record
systems
• Policy of culling based on parity
• Fallout of early parity sows

6. Sow Lifetime Productivity DistributionFemales(%)
Number of Pigs
42% of females selected for breeding have 19 or fewer pigs
Adapted from Pollman – Leman Conference
2012

7. How big is the opportunity?

8. Research Goal
• Conduct research that will improve sow lifetime
productivity by 30% by 2017
– Increase from 34 pigs/sow lifetime to 44 pigs/sow
lifetime

9. Major Research Areas
• Gilt development and retention
– Optimizing gilt growth and social interactions
– Gilt competency
• Selection criteria, immune status/markers
– Sow retention
• Strategies to minimize depletion body reserves
9

10. Major Research Areas
• Increased number of pigs weaned and piglet
weaning weight
– Sow lactation and gestation feed efficiency
– Milk quality and quantity
– Increased farrowing rate
– Strategies to minimize pregnancy loss
– Mitigation of the impact of seasonal infertility
10

11. Research Challenges
• Requires large scale projects in order to get
meaningful results
• Multi-year projects to track females from day of
birth through 3rd
parity
• SLP is multifactorial trait so requires a concerted
effort
• Expense – no other funding agencies are working
in this area

12. Research Consortium
• Industry Partners
Murphy Brown LLC
Holden Family Farms
Carthage Veterinary Clinic
• USMARC
Dr. Clay Lents
Dr. Lea Rempel
Dr. Jeremy Miles
Dr. Gary Rohrer
Dr. Dan Nonneman
Dr. Brad Freking
Dr. Bob Cushman
• Investigators
Dr. Rob Knox
Dr. Billy Flowers
Dr. Nathalie Trottier
Dr. Janeen Salak-Johnson
Dr. Ken Stalder
Dr. George Foxcroft
• Universities
Iowa State
NC State
University of Illinois
University Of Alberta
Michigan State University

13. Research Projects
NPB ID Title
11-103 Evaluation of a Physiological Test for Sow Longevity
11-111 Development of Strategies to Improve Sow Productive Lifetime
11-118 Reproductive performance and longevity in replacement gilts allowed
different amounts of floor space during the nursery phase of rearing
11-146 Effects of Preweaning Factors on Sow Lifetime Productivity
12-111 The impact of the timing of relocation of replacement gilts from pens to
stalls on gilt fertility and sow longevity
12-209 Optimal dietary energy and protein for the development of gilts
12-210 Dietary effects on sow productivity to three parities
13-022 Impact of in utero heat stress on subsequent growth, composition and
reproduction
13-129 Understanding the biology of seasonal infertility to develop mitigation
strategies for swine
14-133 Impact of in utero heat stress on subsequent lactational performance and
performance of offspring
14-149 Capturing genetic potential for greater sow lifetime productivity
14-235 Optimal dietary protein for the development of gilts

14. Effect of Neonatal Litter Size on SLP

15. Reproductive Performance and Neonatal Litter Size
Farrowingrate(%)
90
80
70
60
2
100
0
3 4 5 61
Sow Parity
NumberBornAlive
11
10
9
2
12
0
3 4 5 61
Sow Parity
> 10 piglets (10.5 + 0.2)
< 7 piglets (11.0 + 0.1)
> 10 piglets (83.3%)
< 7 piglets (88.7%)
Adapted from Flowers 05-082

16. Femalesremaininginproduction(%)
E = Entry
B = Breeding - gilts
F = Farrowing
R = Rebreeding
Effect of Neonatal Lactation Litter Size on Sow Longevity
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
F1
100
0
R1 F2 R2 F3 R3 F4 R4 F5 R5 F6E B
Production phase
< 7 piglets
> 10 piglets
Adapted from Flowers 05-082

17. Effect of Birth Weight on Longevity

18. E = Entry
B = Breeding - gilts
F = Farrowing
R = Rebreeding
Effect of Replacement Gilt Birth Weight on Sow LongevityFemalesremaininginproduction(%)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
F1
100
0
R1 F2 R2 F3 R3 F4 R4 F5 R5 F6E B
Production phase
2.6 - 3.5 lbs
< 2.5 lbs
> 3.6 lbs
Adapted from Flowers 05-082

19. Effect of Colostrum Intake on Puberty Failure
Adapted from Vallet 12-209

20. Effect of Nursery Floor Space on
Productivity

21. Item
Floor space allowance, ft2
/pig Gilt Birth Size
1.6 2.0 2.9 SE P S M L SE P
Initial BW, lb 12.6 12.5 12.2 0.07 0.12 4.43a
5.60b
6.92c
0.07 <0.01
Final BW, lb 56.1a
57.4a
59.2b
0.3 <0.01 23.1a
26.1b
29.4c
0.3 <0.01
ADG, lb 0.94a
0.99a
1.01b
0.01 <0.01 0.40a
0.45b
0.49c
0.01 <0.01
Impact of Birth Weight and Floor Space on Growth Rate
Adapted from Estienne 11-118

22. Item:
Nursery space allowance, ft2
/gilt
1.83 2.69 3.55
Number of gilts1
585 448 361
Parity 1
Total born 12.94 12.93 12.92
Born alive 12.24 12.17 12.20
Born dead 0.71 0.78 0.74
Parity 2
Total born 13.08a
13.62b
13.05a,b
Born alive 12.47a
13.00b
12.49a,b
Born dead 0.64 0.66 0.60
Parity 3
Total born 14.11 14.14 13.84
Born alive 13.34 13.36 13.11
Born dead 0.76 0.76 0.71
Parities 1 to 32
Total born 33.05 32.85 32.56
Born alive 31.35 31.10 30.94
Impact of Nursery Floor Space on Sow Productivity

23. Development of a Physiological Test
For Sow Longevity

24. Sow Retention for Reduced Neonatal Litter Size (< 7 pigs)
Adapted from Flowers 11-103

25. Sow Retention for Normal Neonatal Litter Size (< 10 pigs)
Adapted from Flowers 11-103

26. Relocation of Gilts Post-breeding

27. RELwk1 RELwk2 RELwk3 P-value
n 194 186 183
Inter estrus interval, d 20.7±0.3x
22.1 ±
0.3y
23.0 ± 0.4y
< .001
Normal inter-estrus interval of 18 to 24 d, % 83.9 ± 3.2 85.9 ± 3.3 78.3 ± 3.3 0.24
Shorter inter-estrus interval of < 18 d, % 9.8 ± 1.9x
3.2 ± 1.9y
2.3 ± 1.9y
< .001
Longer inter-estrus interval of > 24 d, % 6.4 ± 2.5x
11.3 ±
2.6x
19.4 ± 2.6y
< .001
No. of services 1.9 ± 0.03 1.9 ± 0.03 1.8 ± 0.03 0.59
4 wk conception rate, % 89.6 ± 2.5 90.0 ± 2.5 88.0 ± 2.6 0.81
Farrowing rate, % 84.2 ± 2.9 86.9 ± 3.0 84.6 ± 3.0 0.69
Total born/litter 13.4 ± 0.3 13.8 ± 0.3 13.3 ± 0.3 0.28
Pigs born alive/litter 12.5 ± 0.3 12.9 ± 0.3 12.5 ± 0.3 0.53
Gilts rebred within 7 d, % 95.4 ± 2.0 92.8 ± 2.0 95.1 ± 2.0 0.54
Timing of Relocation of Gilts on Performance

28. Key Take Aways
• Improvement in sow lifetime productivity will
substantially impact profitability of all phases of
production
• Litter of origin has a significant affect on sow
lifetime productivity
• Gilt selection, development and management is
one key to improving sow lifetime productivity

29. SLP-Related Resources
Stock No. Title
04764 Replacement Gilt Evaluation Pocket Guide
04822 Heat Detection Poster
04969 Scoring Sow Body Condition Poster
07002 Seeing What You Feel Poster
04842 Selection Guide Poster Set

30. This message funded by America’s Pork Producers and the Pork Checkoff
www.pork.org/research