Gilt and Sow Management Guidelines 2017: Section 2 Gilt management
This section provides recommendations and best practices for gilt management. It will help producers prepare gilts to have high performance in their first parity while priming them for high lifetime performance.
7 March 2018
2 minute read
PIC have published 'Gilt and Sow Management Guidelines'. The guidelines provide recommendations for staff working at a commercial sow farm. In addition, these good management practices are also applicable to multipliers and production nucleus farms.
Access the full guidelines here
Eligibility for breeding
Part of the variation in performance across systems and even within systems can be attributed to the quantity and quality of gilts at their first breeding. The conditions associated with high performance in parity 1, such as lifetime performance and optimised cost of production, are summarised in the tables below.
Good management practices
Under all circumstances, producers should adhere to the locally applicable laws that regulate management and housing practices, even if they differ from the recommendations presented in these guidelines.
Gilt production flows
There is no consensus on what is the best flow to generate replacement gilts as each possibility has pros and cons and depends on the local circumstances. Different options are shown below.
