HOG Profits Greatly Affected by Heavy Death Rate of Pigs

The infant mortality among pigs is high.  About 40 per cent of the pigs which are farrowed die before they reach the time of marketing. Most of these deaths occur during the suckling period, when the pigs are small. However, the cost of the feed consumed by the breeding herd during the gestation and suckling periods must be borne proportionately by the surviving members of the litter. _Thus, weanling pigs from large litters begin their fattening period handicapped by a smaller initial cost than similar pigs weaned from small litters. While the deaths after weaning are relatively few, they represent a direct loss of the feed which the pigs have consumed.  It should be clear that the profits of hog production are affected greatly by the deaths which occur between the time of farrowing and marketing.

Interesting facts concerning pigs in the Corn Belt are shown in the table. Spring pigs and fall pigs have about equal chances of reach in, the consumer—60 out of 100. About 40 per cent of the pigs farrowed die at some stage of the process of production. Deaths among spring pigs before weaning are greater than among fall-farrowed pigs, but deaths after weaning are greater among the fall pigs. Explanation of this difference is largely a question of weather. The suckling period of spring pigs comes during the spring, when the weather is cold and wet.  The fall litters suckle during the more favorable weather of August, September, and October. However, after weaning, the spring pigs enjoy the fine summer and autumn weather, whereas the fall pigs must fatten during the cold of winter.

Some interesting differences in death rates for spring pigs farrowed during the four principal farrowing months are also shown. There are fewer deaths before weaning among late-spring than early-spring pigs and the reverse is true for deaths after weaning, largely because of weather. The wet weather of late spring apparently is not as hazardous for late-spring pigs as the cold weather of early spring. After weaning the fattening period of late-spring pigs usually extends into the following winter, when deaths from cholera, pneumonia, and "piling up” in quarters tend to increase.

The percentage of pigs raised to maturity is influenced by the size of litter farrowed. Table 8 shows that the number of pigs farrowed per litter decreases as the time of farrowing becomes later. The breeding herds farrowing late-spring pigs usually have a much larger proportion of gilts to old sows. Losses are less for late-spring pigs, but the number of pigs raised per litter is greater for early-spring pigs because of the larger litters farrowed. Young gilts can hardly be expected to farrow as large litters as old sows, but their selection from large litters will tend to increase their ability to farrow large litters.

The time of farrowing is largely determined by the system used in the production of hogs. If the two-litter system is used, the spring pigs should be farrowed in February and March so the fall pigs can be farrowed and weaned before too late in the fall.  If the one-litter system is used the pigs may be farrowed in late spring. The control of deaths among pigs depends largely upon housing and care.  The problem differs somewhat for different classes of pigs and in the various stages of the pork-production process. The reduction of death losses is a factor in cost of production which will repay every hog producer for his effort.