Project Setup
To best research the breeding stock, we wanted to follow up on the results at three farms with production of finishers. By testing the recommendations available from DanBred and Danish advisors at select Swedish farms, it was possible to evaluate and, if necessary, adjust the recommendations based on Swedish conditions.
One of the potential project farms dropped out early on. Before the project got underway, they had already begun to try out the Danish recommendations. This led to such improvements in the production results of their current genetics that they were not motivated to change breeding material. Therefore, the study was conducted at two farms over three years. The farms used maternal lines from Topigs Norsvin.
During the course of the project, the production results in the finisher production were carefully followed up with the help of WinPig. The production traits recorded were:
- slaughter weight
- classification (meat percentage)
- mortality
- daily growth
- feed efficiency (MJ NE per kg growth)
Health status was followed up on using statistics on inspection findings at slaughter. Moreover, the herd owners responded to surveys with questions about e.g. production, management, feed, development in results, and their general experience with the new sire breed.
The farms’ feed advisors were also asked about feed recipes and their feeding recommendations.
How the pigs were fed
At the farms we followed for three years, Danish standards have been applied since DanBred Duroc was introduced as terminal line. Danish standards for amino acids are based on the feed efficiency of the herd and there are different standards for single-phase and multi-phase feeding. For those interested, details about the Danish standards are available on SEGES’ website.
To achieve the best results, DanBred recommends five or three daily feedings:
| Five (5) Feedings per day for pigs who have just been transferred to the finisher unit: | Three (3) feedings per dat for pigs that have reached maximum feed allowance: |
| Increases feed intake | The pigs will be more content |
| Increases meat deposition | Balanced fat growth |
The recommendation is also that the pigs’ feed allowance up to 60 kg should be so high that around 30 per cent of the valves/crates should have their feed allowance reduced.
As regards the number of feedings, both project farms feed four times a day. The feed curves differ somewhat from Danish recommendations (Figure 1) with a maximum feed allowance of 31.5 MJ NE (farm A) and 30 MJ NE (farm B). Our maximum feed allowance in Sweden is higher, mainly due to the fact that our pigs are heavier at slaughter than what is typical in Denmark.
Feed follow-ups and any necessary adjustments are performed daily. The pigs should climb the feed curve quickly. If you want to know more about the farms’ feeding standards, read the report “How to Successfully Rear DanBred Duroc Under Swedish Conditions”.