Managing gilts before breeding is an important process in swine operations.
While it is common for pork producers to select replacement gilts based on their phenotype (body type, feet and leg structure, number and placement of teats), less emphasis has been placed on reproductive selection.
The goal is to make your herd more productive. To help, it does require that good breeding records and other production costs are known to help make decisions on gilt breeding programs.
Of the gilts that are bred, the highest pigs/sow/year (lifetime average) is achieved by culling all of the non-cyclers at 30 days post entry (42.3, 40.8, 42.4 for Options 1, 2 and 3, respectively). When we increase the percentage of gilts that come into heat by 30 days post entry with PG 600 and still cull non-cyclers at 30 days, we achieve the highest economic returns on the gilts entered into the herd.
This National Hog Farmer article can provide some helpful guidance.
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