Sow mortality rates on Ontario hog farms are less than half of those ii Europe and Brazil, but there is room for improvement, veterinarians Greg Wideman and Courtney Werth told the farmers attending the Big Bug Day recently in Elora.
The Ontario sow mortality rate is 7.5 per cent.
Worthy said a skilled and trained workforce helps, citing an Iowa State University study that found sow mortality declined by 4.5 per cent in herds where staff completed a two-week training program.
Wideman recommended removing prospective gilts from the finishing-hog pens and giving them three weeks to develop maturity and better body condition.
They should also be housed in stalls until they are bred so they are experienced with farrowing stalls.
He cited a few studies that showed a wide range of weight and age of hogs when they were bred, resulting in highly-variable successful piglet rearing and an undesirable degree of weight loss during lactation.
There are better results in farms that check sow weights both at breeding and weaning, he said.
He said staff attending to farrowing and early days tend to focus on the piglets, but should also be paying attention to condition and health of the sows.
Worthy attributed Ontario’s good sow mortality statistics to smaller operations managed by owners and a lower rate of PRRS.
