The productivity of a DanBred animal is not only about high litter size and productive sows. It is also about utilizing the DanBred finishers high genetic potential for growth rates and feed conversion ratio. With a few simple tools you can easily save and earn thousands of euros.
Being consistent with your management is a key factor to utilize the high growth potential of your DanBred pigs. If you change your procedures or SOP’ between every batch, it can be difficult to see what works and what does not.
But even before you start to optimize your production you need to know where you are. Without knowing your current productivity level, such as average daily gain or feed conversion ratio, it is almost impossible to monitor your improvements.
MONITOR 10 % OF THE PIGS/PENS
Weighing-teams is a simple, but very effective tool that can help you monitor your DanBred finishers growth on a weekly basis, and it will give you a clear indication if something is off (link to download template). You only have to monitor 10 % of the pigs/pens to get an indication of the average growth across a batch. Monitoring daily growth on a weekly basis will allow you to see:
- How well you do your feed transition
- If you have received a poor batch of feed that does not meet your requirements
- Changing your recipes
- The effect of lack of water
- The effect of hot period with insufficient ventilation
EASY TO IMPROVE
When you know what your DanBred finishers growth curve looks like, you have a chance to benchmark up against yourself and your colleagues in the industry. Also, when you know your actual performance level, it is a lot easier to improve and even see the smaller improvements that you have done.
Monitoring and collecting the correct data are essential for your production and its improvement. You need to know your current production level, before you can improve it.
