Meetings with the Western Hog Exchange and OLYMEL to raise funds for a producer investment into the packing company have been held to gain support for such investment. Funding proposals are part of this package, to allow individual producers to become part of the Western Hog Venture.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Ritz has announced $158 million over four years to be used by producers to turn new ideas and technologies into viable market opportunities. The interest in developing on-farm slaughter and processing may fit into this program for providing key investment into the business. There are several other aspects of the Growing Forward Program that may help hog producers.

2009	Jan	Feb
Total born/ Litter	10.7	11.6
Live born/ Litter	10.2	10.7
Litters equal to 10–15 live	55%	62%

Trailblazer boars in use on one of our client herds (refer to PEAK Customers in Vol 12 No 6) are producing 11.8 piglets born live, with 10.2 pigs weaned per litter; piglets are strong in the litters. Trailblazer AI is being used well in this herd.
Lacombe MLA Ray Prins made mention of the good Lacombe breed of pigs developed at LRC during the recent Ag Minister’s Press Conference there.

As we discussed previously, feed intake drives growth rate. Therefore, we have to know how to control and manage the factors that affect feed intake. Among such factors are genotype, sex and health status and these we have discussed in previous articles. It has been shown that there is up to 20% difference in average daily feed intake of grow-finish pigs of different genotypes. It has also been shown that average herds only achieve about 70% of the potential of their pigs’ appetite. Much of this loss in potential is due to disease, poor management and poor sanitary conditions. We have discussed in previous articles how poor sanitation can reduce pig performance.

Pig weight

Many aspects of how we mange our grow-finish pigs will influence feed intake and growth rate. When comparing the feed intake of your pigs to that of other producers, or some set target level, it is important to take account of entry and exit weights of the pigs. Feed intake increases with age. Therefore pigs of heavier entry and exit weights will have higher feed intakes than that of lighter pigs in or out.

For pigs fed a diet containing 3.25 Mcal DE/kg, feed intake at different weights might be that shown in Table 1.

Handling the pigs

In general, any management practice that stresses the pigs or disrupts their social group will depress feed intake. Some genotypes appear to be very hyperactive and panic when humans enter the barn. For these genotypes, it is difficult to maintain calm conditions in the barn. Indeed, shouting, hitting or kicking pigs should be avoided. Moving and mixing pigs should be minimized.

It has been shown that mixing finishing pigs will reduce feed intake by as much as 50% for 4 or 5 days and by about 10% over a 4-week period. The negative effect of mixing pigs on feed intake is even worse if the pigs are relocated at the time of mixing.

Table 2. Recommended pen floor space for growing-finishing pigs

	Fully-slatted		Partially-slatted
Wt., kg	Sq. metres	Sq. feet	Sq. metres	Sq. feet
20	0.26	2.8	0.29	3.1
50	0.48	5.2	0.53	5.7
75	0.62	6.7	0.70	7.5
90	0.70	7.5	0.78	8.4
100	0.75	8.2	0.84	9.0
110	0.80	8.7	0.89	9.6

Stocking density

There is no one recommended group size. Group sizes of 15 to 30 pigs per pen are still most common. But there is increasing interest in large group sizes of 70 pigs/pen or greater. With group size of 15 to 30, the pigs will fight for 2 to 3 days before a stable social group is formed. With large groups (> 70), pigs don’t try to form a stable group and fighting is therefore minimal.

(1) In large group pens, ill or lame pigs are more evident than in small groups because there is more room available for them to separate from other pigs. (2) It is also claimed that pigs from large groups are easier to move and load on a truck and (3) they fight less when mixed and transported.

The major disadvantage of large pens is the greater time and effort needed to remove individual pigs from the pen.

One big advantage of larger pens is that as the number of pigs in a pen increases, the space required per pig decreases. Therefore, in large groups you can decrease space per pig by about 10% below the requirement levels shown.

A guide to space allowances for small groups (15-30), under different flooring conditions is shown in Table 2. A commonly used rule of thumb is to allow one square foot of space per 25 lb (11.3 kg) of pig.

Don’t overcrowd, in that overcrowded pigs are more prone to disease and leg problems and feed intake and growth rate are reduced.

Pig Weight, kg	Feed Intake, kg/day
20	1.20
30	1.66
40	2.05
50	2.37
60	2.64
70	2.87
80	3.06
90	3.22
100	3.20
110	3.10
120	3.10