08—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 28,1984
Nutrition & temperature are keys to sow productivity
ST. LOUIS, Mo. Heat-stressed
sows are likely to consume less
feed, lose more weight, and ex
perience greater delays in
returning estrus than sows not
stressed by hot environments,
according to David Nichols, en
vironmental physiologist at
Kansas State University.
“Temperatures of 85 degrees
and above (dace considerable
stress on lactating sows,” he says,
pointing to a KSU study he con
ducted in 1983 on drip-cooling
lactating sows. In the study, heat
stressed cows shrank considerably
more during lactation than those
cooled by a drip irrigation system,
“In fact, drip-cooled sows lost an
average of only 8.4 lbs. during
lactation, while their heat-stressed
counterparts lost 38.5 lbs.,”
Nichols recalls. “And while the
drip-cooled group weaned an
average litter weight of 123.9 lbs,
the heat-stressed sows weaned
litters weighing an average of 112.2
lbs.”
Sows experiencing significant
shrinkage during lactation are less
likely to return to estrus soon after
weaning, Nichols says. “And
missed or delayed estrus means
downtime to the hog producer,” he
adds.
Excessive heat also adversely
affects conception rates and the
number of pigs born live, ac
cording to Oklahoma State
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University studies on heat-stressed
sows. In one test, where 28 gilts
were subjected to periods of 95
degrees Fahrenheit only 19 of them
settled, says OSU extension swine
specialist Dr. Bill Luce. “In the
control group, where temperatures
were kept at a constant 74 F, all
gilts settled.”
Luce points to another OSU
study which indicated that gilts
heat-stressed during the last three
weeks of gestation farrowed an
average of 5.2 dead pigs per litter,
while the control group farrowed
only 0.4 dead pigs per litter.
“Extreme heat affects gestating
sows most adversely during the
first and last three weeks of
pregnancy,” Luce adds. “During
the first three weeks, it affects
conception rates; during the last
three, it increases the number of
stillborns.”
Drip-cooling is probably one of
the best ways to keep sows cool
during heat spells, suggests Bob
George, extension agriculture
engineer at the University of
Missouri. “The cool water
gradually dripping on the animals
evaporates, lowering body tem
perature and reducing heat
stress.”
A more time-tested method
George advocates for keeping sows
comfortable during the summer
heat is snout cooling. “This is akin
to an air conditioner,” he savs. “It
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cools the air, and then drops it at
low velocity around the sows
heads. They inhale it, and the
cooled air reduces body tem
perature.”
Also critical to temperature
control is good ventilation, George
continues. To ensure optimal air
movement, he advises producers
to first determine air flow for the
hottest summer day. This should
be based on per head air
movement, or air changes per
minute, whichever number is
higher. “Then producers should
pick a combination of fans that will
move that much air at l/Bth-inch
static pressure,” he says.
After producers have cooled the
breeding environment as much as
possible, they should provide
rations that produce minimal
metabolic body heat while meeting
the animals’ nutritional needs,
advises Dr. Ray Washam,
manager of swine technical ser
vices for Ralston Purina Company.
“A sow’s first reaction to heat is to
go off feed, which causes body
weight loss that can delay return to
estrus,”he says.
A solution to reduced feed intake
is to provide lactating sows with
high-fat, high net energy rations,
the researcher suggests. “It’s well
established that fat causes less
heat production during digestion,
and thereby decreases heat stress.
High energy rations like High
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maintain energy intake even
during hot temperatures,” says
Washam.
Because of the ration’s high
energy concentration, the
researcher says, sows can
maintain body condition on less
feed than on conventional rations.
“In addition, these rations contain
lower levels of heat-producing
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DeKalb-Pfizer reports turnaround
DEKALB, 11. This has been a
year of turnaround and im
provement for Dekalb-Pfizer
Genetics, according to John Mc-
Carter, President. The company
recorded a substantial increase in
1984 sales over 1983 figures.
McCarter summarized the
company’s 1983-84 sales and
marketing accomplishments
during the company’s National
Sales Conference July 8-11 in
Osage Beach, Mo. More than 600
members of the sales staff and
their families were in attendance.
The growth was not easy nor
automatic, McCarter said. Seed
production reduced two thirds due
to the 1983 drought. The company’s
Quality Assurance staff closely
monitored seed to prevent seed lots
that didn’t measure up to DeKalb-
Pfizer’s rigid standards from
balanced to meet a sow’s protein
needs,” he says.
Summers, especially extremely
hot ones, can present costly
breeding problems for hog
producers, Washam continues.
“But these problems will be far
less severe if producers have fine
tuned their management
techniques and facilities to meet
the warm weather challenge.”
being planted.
To ensure adequate quantities of
seed for farmers in 1985, DeKalb-
Pfizer is expanding production in
key product lines, McCarter ex
plained. The company plans to
produce a four-fold supply in
crease over the 1984 net supply for
six major corn hybrids. Soybean
seed production will be up 80
percent, McCarter said. He also
reported increased production of
forage sorghum and Sudax.
In addition to a more abundant
seed supply, McCarter pointed to
the company’s research efforts
and development of new hybrids as
the components that will move the
company forward in future years.
DeKalb-Pfizer released nine new
corn hybrids and five new soybean
varieties in 1984 as a result of such
research efforts.
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