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Development of a Record System for Measuring Swine Breeding Herd Efficiency¹

University of Illinois, Urbana 61801

Abstract

A breeding herd record system for swine was developed to systematically measure and study breeding herd performance, to provide aid in the diagnosis of reproductive failure, and to evaluate the breeding herd as an economic unit. The female month served as the fixed base against which reproductive performance was measured.

The efficacy of the record system was determined on 75 cooperating farms in an 18-month field trial involving 22,267 farrowings. Gilts and sows farrowed 1.39 ± .40 and 1.75 ± .38 times/female year, weaning 9.16 and 13.83 pigs/year, respectively. Sows and gilts each lost approximately 25% of all pigs prior to weaning; the major causes of death were stillbirths, crushing, starvation and diarrheas.

¹ This work was partially funded by the Illinois Department of Agriculture Swine Disease Research Fund.

² Department of Veterinary Pathology and Hygiene.

³ Department of Agricultural Economics.