| The association between farrowing rate (FR) and specific management factors under current conditions in commercial sow herds in Ontario and Canada was determined. In 30 Ontario sow herds, an evaluation that included determination of FR, completion of a management survey, breeding observation, conception rate estimation, fresh and stored semen evaluation and semen storage temperature monitoring was performed. Herds were classified as low FR if the average FR over the past year was <85% (24 herds, ave FR=76.2%) while those with a FR of ≥85% were classified as good FR (6 herds, ave FR=87.3%). Low FR was associated with low conception rate, poor quality fresh semen, moving the boar into the gilt pen for estrus detection, breeding sows with artificial insemination (AI) only, inseminating sows in stalls, wiping the vulva before insemination and using "hands-free" AI devices (p<0.05).; A study of 28 on-farm semen storage units showed that inappropriate temperature conditions occurred in 36% of the units examined. Usually, the inappropriate temperatures were linked to the activities of the herds-people, such as loading warm semen into the unit, poor unit maintenance and poor temperature control. The quality of 31 semen samples stored in 24 different units was measured when fresh and after 72 hours of on-farm storage. After 72 hours, inappropriate storage temperatures resulted in decreased total motility (p<0.05) and lower sperm/ml and sperm/dose than samples stored in appropriate temperatures (p<0.05). The length of time taken for semen temperature to change when exposed to changes in air temperature was measured in different types of semen dose packaging. On average, it took 29.4 and 47.9 minutes for the temperature to change by 2°C and 3°C, with the temperature change being fastest in pouches, intermediate in tubes and slowest in bottles (p<0.001).; PigCHAMP(TM) records from 78 Canadian herds were obtained to examine the association between sow-level factors and individual sow FR. The highest FR was found in sows that were in mid-parity, had a previous lactation length >16 days, received a mixed mating, received 3 matings/service, were served once/parity and had a previous wean-to-first-service interval of 4-5 days (p<0.05). |
