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Animal mobility in loose sow housing demands
higher standard of sow durability.
For generations (in
swine terms), commercial pigs have been
raised with limited leg and "stretch" room.
Feet and leg conformation really didn't
matter. But in loose sow housing,
conformation matters - a lot.
Loose sow housing means that
animals will be more mobile. Therefore,
feet and leg conformation is a
crucial genetic trait to keep in mind—and
another trait that was often sacrificed
during the rush to leanness. Weak feet and
legs are an obvious liability in any
environment, especially in open housing that
is meant to encourage mobility.
What’s a pork producer to do? Seek
and find the swine genetics that solve the
problem of sow conformation.
In contrast to other genetics providers,
Babcock never relaxed conformation criteria
in its pursuit of leanness. The result today
is that Babcock females are
remarkably durable in virtually every pork
production environment today--especially
in group sow housing--with an overall
average sow death loss rate less than half
of the industry average. For generations (in
swine terms), commercial pigs have been
raised with limited leg and “stretch” room.
Feet and leg conformation really didn’t
matter. But in loose sow housing,
conformation matters—a lot.
Babcock genetics produce a very durable sow,
indeed. They hold up very well throughout
their lives. That means you’ll get more out
of your production dollars because you’ll
likely receive full market value for most of
those animals from a packer. In fact, our
customers tell us that 90% of their culled
sows are not discounted when they go to
market—something to keep in mind when you
may replace 40-50% of the females in your
herd annually.
With humans, joint replacement is
commonplace. In swine, you never want
joints to weaken in the first place. When
swine legs and feet have collapsed, another
animal won’t make it to market (or will be
significantly discounted).
Choosing Babcock genetics means you
won’t lose animals to weak legs and feet,
even as they move into the more mobile
environment of loose sow housing.
See how the right genetics can deliver
performance that will keep your loose sow
housing operation profitable:
read more |
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