Livestock Production Science, 6 (1979) 179--183
© Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands
179
Short Communication
R E P R O D U C T I V E LIFETIME O F SOWS IN R E L A T I O N TO ECONOMY OF
pRODUCTION
Y. K R O E S
and J.P. V A N
MALE*
State Advisory Service for Pig Production, Utrecht (The Netherlands)
*Pig Research Centre "Nieuw Dalland ", Oss (The Netherlands)
(Accepted 6 July 1978)
ABSTRACT
Kroes, Y., and Van Male, J.P., 1979. Reproductive lifetime of sows in relation to e c o n o m y
of production. Livest. Prod. Sci., 6: 179--183.
In pig production substantial economic loss is involved in early culling of sows, due to
low fertility,leg problems, etc. Data on 15 000 services from 85 commercial pig farms were
~nalysed to quantify the importance of these losses. F r o m the average cost price per weaner
per litterand cumulative, a "sow remainder productive life value" has been calculated, indicating the economic loss when a sow has to be culled too early. Calculations for farms
with low, average and high culling rates show substantial differences in economic results.
INTRODUCTION
Accurate and reliable figures on sow productivity are very difficult to obtain,
partly because of the large influence o f management, in the broadest sense of
~he word. This may have been w h y the subject has received insufficient attention despite its economic importance. This paper deals in particular with the
influence of productive lifetime on number o f weaners per sow per year.
MA T ER I ALS AND METHODS
Detailed data were available from the Dutch National Agricultural Advisory
Service and the Agricultural Economic Research Institute (L.E.I.) concerning
15 000 services on 85 commercial farms. On average the sows produced 1.97
litter per annum and the average replacement rate was 43%. Loss rates in piglets have been derived from the literature (Hoornweg and DrSge, 1967; Rasbeck,
1969; Strang, 1970; Varkensproefbedrijf, 1974}. More detailed figures are given
in Table I.
CALCULATIONS
Starting from these data, and using standard costs for new buildings as used
b y the L.E.I., we calculated the cost price per weaner in consecutive litters, and
the cumulative cost price. From this we calculated the "remainder productive
180
TABLE I
Average culling rates and production at consecutive litters
Litter
numb er
%%
Weaners per litter
Culling rate
B e t w e e n service
Between
and indicated
litter (empty,
abortion, etc.)
farrowing from
indicated litter
and next service
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 etc.
19.6
16.3
13.8
11.6
9.9
8.6
7.0
5.3
3.7
4.2
4.77
3.47
2.27
2.16
2.16
1.74
1.30
1.30
1.30
1.30
3.04
2.60
2.07
1.31
0.87
1.73
2.17
1.74
1.70
4.37
Total
Average
100
21.77
21.60
Total
Born
alive
Reared
9.7
10.7
11.2
11.3
11.4
11.4
11.6
11.4
11.9
12.5
9.2
10.2
10.6
10.8
10.7
10.8
10.8
10.7
10.9
11.0
7.8
8.9
9.0
9.1
8.9
8.9
8.8
8.6
8.6
8.6
10.99
10.36
8.68
life v a l u e " , a n i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e e x p e c t e d p r o f i t p e r s o w in t h e r e m a i n d e r o f
her p r o d u c t i v e life, a s s u m i n g a w e a n e r p r i c e o f Dfl. 115 at 22 kg. T h e s e d a t a
are s u m m a r i z e d in T a b l e II. This indicates, n o t surprisingly, t h a t t h e c o s t price
p e r w e a n e r is highest in t h e first l i t t e r a n d decreases o v e r t h e n e x t t w o litters.
T h e c u m u l a t i v e c o s t p r i c e is at its m i n i m u m w i t h t h e s e v e n t h litter.
T h e r e m a i n d e r life value reflects t h e e x p e c t a t i o n s p e r individual s o w f o r
its f u r t h e r p r o d u c t i v i t y . I f a sow, f o r w h a t e v e r reason, has to be culled d i r e c t l y
a f t e r weaning, t h e d a m a g e is e q u a l t o t h e r e m a i n d e r life value. I f she is culled
at a l a t e r stage in t h e r e p r o d u c t i v e cycle, t h e r e is an a d d i t i o n a l d a m a g e e q u a l t o
t h e costs o f h o u s i n g and m a i n t e n a n c e d u r i n g t h e n o n - p r o d u c t i v e d a y s (Dfl. 4
per day).
T h e a b o v e figures are averages o v e r 85 f a r m s and p r o v i d e n o i n f o r m a t i o n o n
v a r i a t i o n a n d its c o n s e q u e n c e s . In o r d e r to a n a l y s e t h e i n f l u e n c e o f l e n g t h o f
p r o d u c t i v e life o n p r o d u c t i v i t y we specified t w o o t h e r groups, viz. w i t h a l o w
and high r a t e o f r e p l a c e m e n t , respectively. T o t h e s e t w o g r o u p s m o d e l calculat i o n s were applied w h i c h are b a s e d o n factual, b u t n o t e x t r e m e , figures f r o m
t h e s a m e c o m m e r c i a l farms. S o m e m a i n averages are given in T a b l e III.
T h e culling r a t e has a great i m p a c t o n t h e c o m p o s i t i o n o f t h e s o w herd.
A s s u m i n g t h a t a n y culled s o w is i m m e d i a t e l y r e p l a c e d b y a n e w gilt we c a n
c a l c u l a t e t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h e first a n d c o n s e c u t i v e farrowings, w h i c h is also
given in T a b l e III.
T h e first and s e c o n d farrowings, generally c o n n e c t e d w i t h m o r e p r o b l e m s
t h a n t h e n e x t ones, increase f r o m 26.8% f o r t h e l o w culling g r o u p via 3 5 . 9 %
f o r t h e average t o 44% f o r t h e high culling group. T a k i n g i n t o a c c o u n t t h a t
181
a b o u t 50% of the cullings t a k e place d u r i n g ( e x p e c t e d ) gestation a n d o f t e n
a t a v e r y l a t e stage, t h e f a r r o w i n g i n t e r v a l i n c r e a s e s i n f a c t b y 6 - - 8 d a y s f r o m
the first group to the average group, a n d b y a n o t h e r 6 - - 8 d a y s f r o m t h e average
group to the high culling rate group.
C o m b i n i n g all d a t a , w e c a n s u m m a r i z e t h e r e s u l t s as g i v e n i n T a b l e IV.
TABLE II
Average cost price and sow values at consecutive litters
Litter
number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 etc.
Cost price per piglet
(Dfl)
Sow value before service
of indicated litter
In litter
Cumulative
Slaughter
Remainder
life
135.37
109.77
101.64
102.34
105.81
106.22
109.51
112.12
114.36
113.52
135.37
122.92
116.64
113.75
112.63
111.93
111.73
111.75
112.01
111.92
365
344
344
387
420
440
457
457
449
446
58
212
230
167
98
60
18
----
TABLE III
Litters per sow, replacement rates and distribution of farrowings in three groups of farms
Groups of farms with:
Litters per sow during her entire
productive life
Replacement per year (%)
Distribution of farrowings (%)
according to litter number
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 etc.
Low
culling
rate
Average
culling
rate
High
culling
rate
6.56
31.3
4.55
43.4
3.42
55.4
14.1
12.7
11.8
10.6
9.5
8.8
7.9
6.6
5.3
12.7
19.6
16.3
13.8
11.6
9.9
8.6
7.0
5.3
3.7
4.2
25.0
19.0
14.8
11.6
9.2
7.5
5.6
3.7
2.3
1.3
182
TABLE IV
Summary of results in three groups of farms
Groups o f farms with:
Low
culling
rate
Average
culling
rate
High
culling
rate
Litters per sow per year
Weaners per sow per year
Cost price per weaner (Dfl.)
Labour income per sow (Dfl.)*
2.06
17.9
108.05
556.00
1.97
17.1
111.91
485.00
1.89
16.4
116.12
413.00
* Labour income = all income minus all costs excluding labour.
CONCLUSIONS
The differences in economic results between farms with different culling rates
are substantial. A difference of Dfl. 143 per productive sow per year was calculated b e t w e e n groups with low and high culling rates.
In practice these differences may be even greater because of the possible
interaction with general management.
High culling rates and the difficulty of the immediate replacement of culled
animals will lead to a sub-optimal sow population, with an additional negative
economic effect.
High culling rates necessitate many replacement animals which, if purchased,
will give an additional health risk.
The economic importance of productive life is such that further study of the
causes o f v~riation and the possibilities for improvement is fully justified.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
REFERENCES
Hoornweg, J. and DrSge, H., 1967. Bedrijfseconomische beschouwingen over fokkerij en
mesterij. Varkens 1968. Landbouw Economisch Instituut, Den Haag, No. 198, pp. 28--29.
Rasbeck, N.O., 1969. A review of the causes of reproductive failure in swine. Br. Vet. J.
125: 599--616.
Strang, G.S., 1970. Litter productivity in Large White Pigs. I. The relative importance of
some sources of variation. Anim. Prod., 12: 225--233.
Varkensproefbedrijf "Noord- en Oost-Nederland", 1974. Jaarverslag, p. 12.
RESUME
Kroes, Y. et Van Male, J.P., 1979. La vie productive des truies: aspects ~conomiques.
Livest. Prod. Sci., 6:179--183 (en anglais).
La r~forme pr~matur~e des truies ~ cause de fertilit~ insuffisante ou de d ~ a u t s entrafne
de grandes pertes ~conomiques. On a ~tudi~ les donn~es enrAgistr~es de 85 exploitations
183
porcines portant sur 15 000 saillies, pour quantifier ces pertes. On a calcul~ le prix de revient
des porcelets par num~ro de p o t t l e et pour l'ensemble cumul~ des port~es, pour y d~river
la valeur de la truie pour la r~production. La difference avec la valeur bouch~re de la truie
indique la perte a cause de r~forme pr~matur~e. Les r~sultats ~conomiques calculus pour
les fermes ayant un taux de r~forme faible, rnoyenne et ~lev~ montrent des differences
consid~rables.
KURZFASSUNG
Kroes, Y. und Van Male, J.P., 1979. Die produktive Lebensdauer von Sauen: C)konomische
Aspekte. Livest. Prod. Sci., 6:179--183 (in Englisch).
In der Schweineproduktion treten grosse wirtschaftlichen Verluste auf durch Ausfall
yon Sauen wegen FruchtbarkeitsstSrungen, Beinschw~iche usw. Um die Bedeutung dieser
Verluste zu quantifizieren wurden Daten yon 15 000 Belegungen in 85 Betrieben analysiert.
Mittels den errechneten Erzeugungskosten der Ferkel pro Wurfnummer und kumulativ
iiber mehreren Wilrfen wurden die 5konomischen Differenzen zwischen dem Schlachtwert
und d em Wert als Zuchtsau errechnet. Durchgefiihrte Berechnungen filr Betriebe mit
niedrigen, durchschnittlichen und hohen Ausmerzquoten zeigen erhebliche wirtschaftlichen
Unterschiede.

FITA Indoor Championship

Gsieser Tal-Lauf, Südtirol (I) 2015 (139) 30km Klassisch Damen