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Launching Gilts for Longevity
By Bill Raufer, Pork Magazine - Special attention to the replacement gilt offers immediate and long-term benefits, says R. Dean Boyd, technology director for the Hanor Company, which has 100,000 sows in several states.
To start, he says, keeping first-litter gilts in a separate group -- rather than housing them with older sows -- pays off in the gilts' lifetime performance. It also benefits their pigs all the way to market.
"Gilt development is among the more disappointing aspects of pork production," says Boyd. "There's much room for improvement industry-wide. And we need to start when the replacement gilt is young -- at about 50 pounds."
Paying increased attention to gilt development, he strongly believes, can positively impact a sow's lifetime productivity. Early health acclimatization by exposing gilts to pathogens present in the herd also can benefit her long term. Boyd recommends exposing gilts to first-litter or older cull sows once they reach 50 to 60 pounds up to breeding.
Separating out replacement gilts, beginning at 50 pounds, makes it possible to tailor their nutrition and management in each stage. Segregating pigs from first-litter gilts' in the nursery and finishing stages also offers worthwhile advantages all the way to market. Boyd cites the following benefits:
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