Challenge Club producers aim for 30 pigs/sow (August 15, 2005)

Customers of Danbred North America have been sharing ideas and experiences about management techniques that can boost breeding herd productivity at meetings of the Danbred Challenge Club held recently in Alberta and Ontario.


Producers attending the meetings have been implementing procedures described in the Danbred Management Guide, a detailed manual that explains the techniques used by Danish producers who achieve 30 pigs per sow or more. This includes novel practices such as the use of high protein top dressings prior to breeding, giving sows high levels of feed in the first 28 days of gestation and extending the lactation length of gilts to 30-35 days. The Challenge Club was established to provide a discussion forum so that customers can compare their experiences and results when implementing the new management strategies.


Bernie Peet, Danbred’s Marketing and Technical Services Manager, who facilitated the meetings, says that sharing knowledge is essential to making rapid progress. “While we have access to a lot of good information from Denmark and around the world, hearing from Canadian producers about their experiences carries a lot of weight and shortens the learning process.”


One producer who has implemented most of the recommendations is Larry Ross of Bright, Ontario. He has extended lactation length in his gilts to 30 or more days by weaning the gilt’s own litter at 20 days and replacing it with a litter of 5-7 day old piglets, which suckle for another 14 days. He also feeds a top-dressing made from a Danish recipe to sows and gilts for five days prior to breeding. “The difference due to these two practices is amazing,” he says. “When gilts are weaned they behave just like sows and the vast majority are bred five days later.” Danish experience suggests that extending gilt lactation length also results in up to a pig more per litter in subsequent parities.


Progress towards the ultimate goal of 30 pigs per sow is being recognized by the award of Danbred Challenge certificates of achievement for customers weaning more than 25 pigs/sow/year. At a meeting in Lethbridge, AB, John Kleinsasser of Midland Colony received a framed certificate from Richard Burr, Danbred’s Southern Alberta Sales Representative for achieving 26.5 pigs/sow in the six months to May 2005.