Ask the
i
9
VMD
Herd Health in Hogs
Last column, in the first of
a two-part series, Dr. Trayer
responded to a reader who
asked: “What con
siderations should I make
when selecting my new
breeding stock for my hog
herd?”
This week, Dr. Trayer will
comment on the treatment of
the new breeding stock after
they arrive at the home
farm.
In your individual herd
health program, it is im-
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OBERHOLTZER'S
RD #4, Box 260, Falrview Road
Lititz, PA 17543 Phone: 717-733-8506
Mon., Thurs., Fri. 9:00 to 2:00 apd 4:00 to 9:00
Tues., Sat. 9:00 to 12:00
TOUTS HEABD
THE TALK.
There’s a better way to dry grain. It’s called
CHILLCURING ™ because it means CURING
without heat. Here’s what the talk is all
about.
THE GRAIN
Every kernel of gram is alive when it comes out of the field
It is a seed, able to grow because it has the ability to take on
moisture Likewise, it can be kept in a state of preservation by
removing the moisture already in it
But by heating the gram to dry it, the seed life is destroyed
By removing heat and moisture from the gram, it becomes
dormant, and stays alive Then it can ripen to full weight,
losing only water while keeping valuable protein, starches
and sugar
THE SYSTEM
It’s simple Gram goes from the field right to the bin With
the unique AIRFRAME “ and AIRFLOOR “ the gram rests on a
solid bed that allows maximum ventilation
Clean dry air is the best curing medium for the gram
GRAINLAMPS“ provide electric sunshine, cleaning and
drying the air beneath the floor, before it passes through the
gram
Fans force air under the floor Rising through the gram, this
dry outside air carries away moisture and heat
At the peak of the bin a jumbo 40” turbine, the
WHIRLCOOLER “, puts nature to work for you Wind and
rising air keeps it turning, venting the system naturally
A special HARVESTAT “ Control System monitors the
curing process A simple setting controls the GRAINLAMPS “
to make use of free, natural air
X-V
Leonßiegel Tim Trayer Edgar Sheaffer
portant to remember to
isolate all new stock for a
minimum of 30 days, a total
isolation from the rest of the
herd.
During the 30 day isolation
period, the hogs should be re
blood tested for brucellosis,
pseudorabies, and lep
tospirosis. They should also
be treated from internal
parasites, worms, and ex
ternal parasites, lice and
mange.
In the treatment of lice
and mange, it is hard to
for youiself
HOURS:
IS)
ly
make a recommendation as
to what to use because of the
constant problem of knowing
what is going to be on the
market. What has worked
well m the past includes
lindane, toxophene, and
malathion.
The new stock should be
checked daily for any
evidence of disease. I
recommend that the ob
servation exercise be done
last m the day, so that if
there would be any disease,
you would not be dragging it
around to your other houses.
The vaccination program
for the new additions, should
induce leptospirosis, using
the 5-way bacterm, and
erysipelas, agam using the
bacterin.
After the 30 day wait is
over and you’ve gotten your
blood tests back with
negative results, if the hogs
look healthy, it is time to
start inter-mingling the new
stock with the old herd. The
co-minghng can be ac
complished by either fen
celme contact, or by putting
the new stock into a pen that
has the manure from the
original herd.
This method of in
troduction builds up good
immunity to enteroviruses,
also known as the SMEDI
syndrome, and also
parovirus. The length of
time recommended for this
type of getting acquainted
program is 30 days.
2. has been tried and proven in 17 states on
over 3000 farms. The research is in CHILLCURING’" WORKS'
3. The CHILLCURING'" system uses only the electricity to
power fans and lights, using about IVz KW hrs per bushel
Compare that cost to other systems that use increasingly
expensive fuels to get disappointing results
4. The gram goes from the field to the bin and stays there til!
you need it Save time and money at harvest with the one step
HARVESTALL CHILLCURING'" and storage system
5. If you’re in the market for gram storage, you owe it to
yourself to look further into HARVESTALL GRAIN
CHILLCURING"
Check With Us For Our Early Season Discounts
lao new stock includes a
boar, I recommend that the
boar be placed in a pen with
mature gilts from your
finishing floor to see whether
he works properly. After this
30 day test penod, the
animal can be considered
ready to add to your
breeding herd.
From their day of arrival
on the farm, the new stock
should be provided with
wholesome feed and water,
and adequate housing.
Concerning feeding the
new breeding stock, I
recommend you increase the
bulk in the ration and keep
them off of a high energy
diet their first week after
stepping off the truck. This
type of ration reduced the
potemal problems with gut
edema.
In actually selecting boar
for your herd, you need to
start looking at least 3
months in advance. Plan
ahead and know what your
needs are. You should
identify your herd’s weak
points, such as bad legs, low
performance on feed con
version, low carcass quality.
When looking at a herd
with poor feed conversion,
you have to be sure that it is
not the result of a disease,
like atrophic rhinitis,
holding back the growth
rate.
Remember that heredity,
or the ability of the parent to
transmit specific genes to
their offspring, called
heritabihty is not the whole
story. Environment plays an
important role.
Consider the hentability of
the pig’s birth weight, where
10 percent of it is only due to
heredity and 90 percent is
due to the environmental
treatment of that animal.
In feedlot performance, or
feed efficiency on weight
Advanced Ag Products
RD 2 Box 174 Elverson, Pa. 19520
215-286-9118
THE FACTS
1. You can’t beat Nature HARVESTALL GRAIN
CHILLCURING'“ uses the same elements that ripen and
preserve grain if left to itself free flowing air and infra red rays
(sunshine)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 29,1980—D17
gam, it appears to be in
fluenced equally. That is 50
percent heredity and 50
percent environment.
Some of the traits you
should be looking for in a
boar are his behavorial
characteristics, tem
perament and sexual
behavior, along with his
history of sow productivity,
such as litter size, milking
and mothering ability, and
number of pigs weaned.
If you only had to look at
one trait to influence your
boar selection, his record of
feedlot performance, his
growth rate and daily gam
and feed conversion, would
be the one to spend the most
time on and to study the
closest. We know that 60 to 70
percent of the variable costs
in the swine industry are
feed costs.
Other considerations that
might be made are the
carcass merit, that is the
back fat percentage; the
soundness of the animal,
whether he has a straight
underline, good legs,
straight bone, good teat
spacing, and good mating
ability.
The conformation and type
of the boar is also important.
Body length, height, muscle
size, and testicle develop
ment are some of the criteria
to note. Along with the boar’s
outward appearance, you
should find out if there has
been any genetic ab
normalities in the boar’s
history, such as hernias or
cryptorchids (retained
testicles).
If there is any history in
this individual's bloodline of
any genetic abnormalities,
this eliminates him from
selection. You cannot take a
chance of the possibilities of
0*
genetically passing this trait
along to the offspring.
In summary, you need
records, and if you only have
one trait to look at, check
feedlot performance.
Identify problems in your
herd that you want to
correct.
My minimum criteria for
boar selection is: 1. he
should come from a litter
size of ten at birth, weaning
eight; 2. he should have
twelve evenly spread teats
with no inversions; 3. he
should have obtained 230
pounds of body weight within
155 days or less; 4. his daily
gam from 60 pounds and 230
pounds should be 2 pounds
per day or more; and 5. his
back fat should be less than
one inch.
Do not over work your new
boar, particularly if he is
less than 12 months old.
Under twelve months, you
should not be using him
more than once a day; over
twelve months, you can use
him twice a day.
Keep the boars cool m
summer to keep the sperm
count up when the tem
peratures reach 85 degrees
Fahrenheit, and above.
Otherwise, the sperm count
will drop and your litters will
start decreasing about three
to four months later.
Replacement breeding
stock in your females is
usually done by selecting
gdts from your own herd,
unless you are just starting
out. My recommendation is
to pick the fastest growing,
leanest gdts that are sound
and from large litters.
To do this, you need on
farm records. If you only
want to look at one trait
(Turn to Page D 18)