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ASC 408G: Swine > EXAM 3: sow mortality and culling > Flashcards

EXAM 3: sow mortality and culling Flashcards

1
Q

average sow mortality

A

7-8%

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2
Q

number of breeding females that died or was euthanized throughout the year divided by the total sow population

A

sow mortality

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3
Q

replacement cost can account for ___________/sow death

A

$400-500

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4
Q

cost associated with sow mortality

A

replacement cost
opportunity cost (sow died when preg)
worker morale

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5
Q

how many parities does a sow need to have in order to make her money back

A

4

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6
Q

what are the most common causes of sow mortality

A

lameness
season
parity
stillbirths
backfat
gastric ulcers

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7
Q

how does lameness effect sow mortality

A

poor structured/ lame sows= higher mortality

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8
Q

how does season effect sow mortality

A

summer months= higher mortality

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9
Q

how does parity effect sow mortality

A

first parity (number of times preg) are more at risk of mortality

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10
Q

how does stillbirths effect sow mortality

A

stillborn pigs may be an indication of a problem with the sow (disease)

sows that give birth to stillborn= higher chance of mortality

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11
Q

how does backfat effect sow mortality

A

sows that have little to no backfat experience higher mortality rates

BCS 1-2

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12
Q

how does gastric ulcers effect sow mortality

A

small particle size of cereal grains, pelleting and grain type are predisposing factors for the gastric ulcers

in sows/finishing herd

sow diet is a powder/crumble

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13
Q

reasons for rising sow mortality

A

labor force
observation skills
farm size
crowding
culling
phenotypic selection
AI
feeding

changes with genetics, nutrition, and predisposition to disease/ animal handling= increased mortality

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14
Q

how does labor force effect sow mortality

A

little to no training
lack of experience
understaffed

**main reason for rising sow mortality

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15
Q

how does observation skills effect sow mortality

A

due to limited experience, workers may not recognize that an animal is sick, going lame, or has poor structure or is losing weight until too late

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16
Q

how does farm size effect sow mortality

A

daily individual sow observations is often overlooked

overlook the importance of observation, treatment, culling, housing

17
Q

how does crowding effect sow mortality

A

farms maximize production to reduce overhead cost

lack of sick pens

18
Q

how does culling practices effect sow mortality

A

traditionally farms culled sows on as- beed basis

today farms wait until they have a full load to cull

19
Q

how does phenotypic selection effect sow mortality

A

sows structure (soundess of legs and feet and body condition) can influence longevity

less emphasis on phenotype and more on genetics
**does see pig before buying

20
Q

how does AI effect sow mortality

A

natural breeding is able to show indicators that a sow has a structural weakness and should be culled

an AI rod doesn’t show indicator

21
Q

how does feeding effect sow mortality

A

sows are typically fed once a day= increase in gastric ulcers occurring

sows also typically go off feed during lactation = increase in gastric ulcers

22
Q

what is culling correlated to

A

economic efficiency of the sow herd

23
Q

a sound culling policy is an integral part of _______________________

A

sow herd management

24
Q

used to remove sows from the herd that have shown suboptimal performance like farrowing difficulties, poor little size

A

voluntary culling

25
Q

used to manage the parity profile of the sow herd

A

voluntary culling

**sow is still productive

26
Q

reasons to voluntarly cull

A

small litter size
poor lactation
poor maternal behavior
farrow difficulties
sow too big for crate (height or width)

27
Q

removal of sow from herd due to failure to come into estrus, fail to conceive, abortion, lameness, disease

A

involuntary culling

28
Q

reasons to involuntary cull

A

fail to conceive
fail to come into estrus (most common)
abortion
lame and disease

29
Q

6 MAIN reasons for culling sows

A
  1. repro fail
  2. inadequate performance (hysterical sow, small litter)
  3. locomotor (feet and leg issues)
  4. death (involuntary)
  5. miscellaneous (age, size, temp)
  6. other disease
30
Q

how long is gestation

31
Q

how many days are sows in lactation

32
Q

in a sows production cycle when are they normally culled

A

weaning
at preg check; if not pregnant=culled

33
Q

reasons for culling at weaning

A

low production
small litter
poor milk
too big

34
Q

how many NPDs does a sow have

35
Q

sow production cycle: gestation

A

day 24-35 preg check

some culled because they failed to conceive or did not come into estrus

**don’t cull during gestation

36
Q

sow production cycle

A

breeding
gestation
farrowing
lactation
weaning
NPD
repeat

ASC 408G: Swine (37 decks)

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