E6-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 18, 1987
Buy A Proven Boar,
Not A 'Pig In A Poke'
By Richard Barczewski
University of Delaware
NEWARK, Del. For most
pork producers, buying a new herd
boar is an exciting experience.
Generally expectations are high
that the new boar will be the one in
a lifetime that really improves your
herd. But buying a boar without
knowing his potential can result in
losses to your operation. Realizing
that many boars are bought sight
unseen, I felt it was about time to
rehash some pointers on selecting
a new boar.
Profitable commercial swine
production depends on several key
factors:
» Producing large litters of pigs;
» Achieving fast gams (espe
cially in high investment
operations):
» Producing a product that’s in
demand by consumers (lean meat);
and
» Producing this product as effi
ciently as possible.
Consider all these factors when
buying a new boar. Also take into
account the boar’s temperament,
soundness (both structural and
underline), and his conformation.
Performance tests are one good
source of herd boars. Daily gam,
feed efficiency and backfat are
three of the main traits that eco
nomically affect your operation.
And performance-tested boars
have the numbers to look at in
regards to these traits. Perfor
mance tests also evaluate boars for
soundness and underline, and usu
ally provide background informa
tion on the animals.
Making improvements in your
operation is essential for profitable
production, and record keeping is a
must if you want to improve. The
only sure way to make improve
ments is to select animals that are
superior to your present herd
average.
For example, if your herd feed
efficiency currently averages 3.5
pounds of feed per pound of gain,
buying a boar with a 3.5:1 feed/
gain ratio won’t result in
improvement.
Select the most feed efficient
boar available in your price range,
if efficiency is a major concern in
your herd, and make sure the one
you buy is better than your herd
average for the selected trait. Since
performance-tested boars have the
data available for making these
comparisons, this is where their
value shines through.
Knowing the performance of a
given boar and the average perfor
mance of the animals in your herd
will ensure positive results if you
select a boar that’s superior to this
herd average.
How much improvement can
you expect from a boar? This
depends on two factors-lhe hcrita
bility of the trait selected for and
the degree of difference between
that trail in the boar and the
females he will be bred to. Gener
ally speaking, hcntabililics for
reproductive trails and feed effi
ciency are medium; and conforma
tion traits (backfat thickness, loin
eye area) are high. The higher the
heritability, the more potential for
geneuc change.
If you don’t keep records on the
performance of your pigs, the fol
lowing criteria may be of some
help. Select boars with:
» Average daily gam of 2.0
pounds/day or better.
»Backfat (adjusted to 230
pounds) of 1.0 inch or less.
» Feed/gainratioof2.7sorless.
» Age to 230 pounds of 155
days or less.
» Litter size of 10 or more pigs
farrowed and 8 or more weaned.
» Underline of 12 or more well
spaced, fully developed teats.
CARLISLE—Ivo V. Otto, Jr.
has announced his candidacy for
the directorship of Agway District
18. He is one of two candidates
recently selected by the district
nominating committee. Otto is a
Cumberland County dairy farmer.
“I am seeking a place on the
Agway Board of Directors because
well-run supply cooperatives help
hold down farmer costs,” Otto
said. “Also, my experience with
Atlantic Dairy Cooperative in the
areas of finance, long-range plan
ning and cooperative operations
would help as an Agway director.”
He began farming in partnership
with two brothers in 1949 with 420
acres and a milking herd of 52. The
partnership expanded the opera
tion to a high of 1200 acres and 270
milking cows. Today, with one
brother deceased, he and his
brother Ralph operate a 900-acre
farm with 200 milking cows.
Otto’s Agway leadership
includes a directorship with East
ern States Farmers Exchange, one
Agway predecessor cooperative,
as well as participation on the Car
lisle store committee, Agway
council and petroleum committee.
With Atlantic Dairy Coopera
tive (formerly Inter-State Milk
Producers), Otto is a 26-year mem
ber and a 19-year director repre
senting northern York, Cumber
land and Perry Counties. He is vice
chairman of the finance and audit
» Feel and legs medium to
large-boned, free-moving, with
adequate cushions on front and
rear legs, and equal toe si/c.
Where can you find
performance-tested boars? Many
states conduct boar tests. Cheek
with your extension swine or lives
tock specialist to find out the near
est source of performance-tested
boars. They’re worth the
investment.
We’ve got your
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BUILDING SYSTEMS
Otto
Seeks Agway Board
committee, chairman of the execu
tive committee and a charter mem
ber of.the planning committee,
organized in 1979.
From 1977-1982 he served as
president of Holly Milk Coopera
tive. Today, Holly is a wholly
owned subsidiary of ADC. He is
also past treasurer of QC, Inc.,
ADC’s wholly-owned indepen
dent quality control laboratory.
Recognizing that it is important
to do more than simply produce
quality milk, for 11 years Otto has
been involved in dairy marketing
regress prematurely; in which
case, the ewe will have a second
ovulation within six to eight days
after the teaser ram was introduced
to the ewes. This ovulation is also
accompanied with a “silent heat.”
The CL that forms as a result of
this second ovulation regresses
normally and the ewe will have a
normal behavioral eslrus within 16
to 18 days, at which time the ewe
can be bred. In other words, in the
cast of a prematurely regressing
CL, the first behavioral eslrus will
occur 22 to 24 days after the teaser
ram is introduced to the ewes.
Therefore, there will be two
peaks in behavioral eslrus follow
ing the use of a teaser ram: the first
will take place 18 to 19 days after
the ram was introduced, in the case
of the normal regressing CL, and
the second will take place 23 to 24
days after introduction. This
results in the ewes being synchron
ized over a six to seven day period.
It is important to note that ewes
Coming Events:
August 1-1:00 p.m. Performance
Ram Sale, Ag Arena, Meat Animal
Evaluation Center, Penn State
University
August 18-20 - Ag Progress Days,
Rock Springs Research Farm,
Penn State University
Come and get it!
CALL COLLECT OR MAIL
COUPON FOR MORE INFORMATION
Name
Address
Town
County
Seat
and promotion as a director of the
Middle Atlantic Milk Marketing
Agency; he currently serves as
secretary.
He has also been a director on
the Philadelphia Dairy Council for
seven years and an eight-year dele
gate to the United Dairy Industries
Association.
Agway District 18 encompasses
Adams, Cumberland, Franklin,
Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Per
ry and York Counties in Pennsyl
vania and the northern tier counties
in Maryland.
Teaser
Rams
(Continued from Page E 2)
must be completely isolated from
rams for about two months before
introduction of the teaser rams to
receive stimulation from the ram’s
pheromones. It is also suggested
that rams be kept a fair distance
(approximately 1/2 mile) away
from the prevent the ewes
from picking up the scent of the
ram’s pheromones during this
period.
Intact or vasectomized rams can
be used to stimulate ewes; howev
er, if an intact ram is used, any ewe
that had a behavioral estrus during
teaser period could be bred. If any
ewes arc bred, the lambing season
will start earlier than anticipated
and, therefore, the lambing will not
be as synchronized as it would be if
vasectomized rams were used.
Another added effect noted in
some studies has been the
increased twinning rate. This has
not been true in all cases so we can
not attribute this solely to the teas
er ram, but it still is a nice plus.
October 1-5 - Keystone Interna
tional Livestock Show, Farm
Show Complex, Harrisburg, PA
October 31-November 22 -
Australian/New Zealand Tour. For
mbre information call MTS Travel
(800)233-0157.
St itc
tef fojs
flwuwrr
(215) 267-4911
Mail To Box P 50 RD
Stevens PA 1 7578