When piglets rule the milk bar

Breeding for Litter weight gain results in more weaned piglets, but also heavier piglets at weaning. And that is precisely what determines the sow’s milk production.

More litter growth, more milk

Piglet growth is closely linked to milk intake. On average, it takes 4 grams of milk for each gram of piglet growth. This ratio has been studied many times and has remained stable for over 30 years. The stability of this ratio over such a long period indicates that it has not been genetically influenced. However, the sow’s milk production clearly plays a decisive role in piglet growth.

Conversely, it is the piglets that stimulate the sow’s milk production. The growth of each piglet, and especially the entire litter, is crucial for the milk produced. This means that sows which can deliver high litter growth will also have a high milk production. This works in combination with other essential maternal traits that affect the growth and health of the piglets.

With DanBred’s newest breeding goal trait, litter weight gain, the sow’s milk production is improved, thereby increasing her ability to care for more piglets as litter growth rises. This ensures that the DanBred sow gives piglets a strong and robust start to life.

Heavier piglets through targeted breeding

3 kg in annual litter weight gain is the expectation for the new trait in the breeding goal for DanBred Landrace and DanBred Yorkshire. The focus is on ensuring the sow’s ability to produce more milk and wean heavier piglets through improved nursing ability.

This improvement can be utilized in different ways. You can choose to equalize litters to the same number of piglets as always. Or you can take advantage of the higher litter weight gain by gradually increasing the number of piglets assigned to each sow.

The latter will increase the sow’s ability to increase number of weaned per weaning. The additional 3 kg of litter weight gain corresponds to half a piglet more weaned per sow per year.

A trial conducted by SEGES Innovation in 2020 proved that DanBred sows can wean more piglets than the number of functional teats they have. Each time a sow weans one more piglet, the need for nursing sows is reduced, along with stress and disease spread among piglets.

Take advantage of the DanBred sow’s unique nursing ability and let her care for one extra piglet. The number of teats is not decisive for how many piglets a sow can wean. The DanBred sow’s nursing ability will only continue to improve in the future with litter weight gain in the breeding goal.