The effects of increasing weaning age in a commercial production system on nursery and finishing performance were evaluated. A total of 1,176 pigs (PIC 337 × Camborough) were used in a 136-d growth trial with 14 and 10 replications/weaning age on the nursery and finishing phases, respectively. Treatments included weaning litters at 19, 22, 25, or 28 d of age. In the nursery, as weaning age increased, initial (5.04, 5.70, 6.52, and 7.26 kg) and final body weight (BW) (18.2, 19.8, 23.0, and 25.1 kg) increased (linear, P < 0.001). Increasing the weaning age reduced (linear, P < 0.001) the prevalence of pigs exhibiting belly nosing (27.6%, 15.0%, 6.5%, and 1.4%) during the first 3 wk. The percentage of pigs losing weight during the first week after weaning (35.1%, 28.7%, 12.4%, and 9.2%) decreased (linear, P < 0.001) as weaning age increased. Average daily gain (ADG; 295, 320, 374, 406 g/d) and average daily feed intake (493, 534, 619, 661 g/d) increased (linear, P < 0.001), while feed efficiency (G:F) (596, 599, 604, and 615) tended to increase (linear, P = 0.081) with weaning age. Removal rate (8.01%, 3.79%, 2.29%, and 1.65%) declined (linear, P = 0.001) as weaning age increased, while there was no evidence of difference (P = 0.463) in mortality rate (0.71%, 0.36%, 0.96%, 1.04%). In the finishing period, BW at 136 d post-weaning (114.9, 117.8, 124.7, and 126.5 kg) and ADG (1.02, 1.04, 1.08, and 1.07 kg/d) improved (linear, P < 0.001). There was no evidence of differences (P > 0.24) in removal (1.5%, 2.4%, 1.0%, and 0.0%) or mortality rates (0.9%, 1.0%, 1.0%, and 1.4%) with changes in weaning age. When performance was analyzed at a common day of life (164 d of age), no effects of weaning age (P > 0.25) were found for BW (125.2, 124.4, 128.0, and 126.5 kg) and lifetime ADG (growth rate from birth to market) (754, 751, 774, and 762 g/d). The BW sold per pig weaned increased (linear, P < 0.001) with weaning age. Even though the slope indicated a linear response, the magnitude of improvement was high until 25 d, before exhibiting diminishing returns from 25 to 28 d. Thus, the study suggests that increasing the weaning age can be an effective strategy to improve the overall performance in a commercial system. Although lifetime performance was not affected by the weaning age range studied, the consistent effect in the nursery and the increment in the number of pigs reaching the market facilitated by the improvement in the removal rate in the nursery phase imply that 25 d is the optimal weaning age.

Background: Gilts represent the largest category (18-20%) of female pigs in a breeding herd. Under field conditions, the amplitude of growth rate and age at the first mating of gilts are remarkably higher than the recommendations made by the genetic companies. There are several studies that have considered the management of these animals starting from their introduction to the herd till the mating. It has been noted that the genetic selection constantly promotes evolution that may change certain traits of these animals. However, there is a lack of the studies that evaluate the management strategies suitable for the modern sows. This study, therefore, aimed to evaluate the effect of age and growth rate of gilts at the first mating on productive performance and retention rate until the third farrowing.Materials, Methods & Results: The study was performed in a gilt development unit (GDU) with a breeding stock capacity of 1000 females and a goal of 90 gilts mating per week. The groups were retrospectively created according to age (<210 d and ≥210 d) and the growth rate (GR; <700 g/d and ≥700 g/d) at the first mating with a 2 × 2 factorial design. A real-time ultrasound examination was performed at approximately 28 days after artificial insemination to detect pregnancy. Afterward, the productivity data over three parities of 703 females were collected and analyzed at 28 commercial farms of destination. The analyses were performed using SAS, with individual gilts as the experimental unit. The total number of piglets born and the age at the third parity were analyzed using the PROC MIXED. The number of estrus at breeding, weaning-to-estrus interval and the number of piglets in the previous farrowing were included as covariates in the model of total piglets born. The farrowing rate and retention rate until the third parity were considered as binary responses and analyzed using logistic regression (PROC GLIMMIX). The effects of age, GR, and their interaction were included as fixed effect in all analyses. There was no effect of age and GR and their interaction (P > 0.05) on farrowing rate after first, second, and third mating. The total number of piglets born in the three first farrowing and over three parities were not affected (P > 0.05) by the age and GR at first mating. The retention rate until the third farrowing of gilts inseminated with more than 210 days of age was approximately 7% greater than in the gilts mated younger; however, no statistical difference (P > 0.05) was detected. An effect of the age at the first mating was observed in the age to reach the third farrowing. Gilts mated with less than 210 and more than 210 days reached the third farrowing, respectively, at 604.5 ±1.9 and 625.1 ± 2.7 days of age (P < 0.001).Discussion: With a minimum GR of 550 g/d, 180 days of age, and at least 130 kg of weight, gilts are eligible to be inseminated without impairing their litter size, farrowing, and retention rate until the third parity. The gilts having modern genotypes can have a high stillbirth rate if bred with an excessive body weight. It is worth to consider that the gilts inseminated with > 700g/d did not present overweight in this study. The reproductive performance expressed by farrowing rate and piglets born and the longevity expressed by the retention rate from the first pregnancy until the third parturition were not impaired by the groups of age and GR in Large White × Landrace crossbred (Camborough 23®). In addition, gilts inseminated earlier than 210 days but having the minimum required weight resulted in less non-productive days for the breeding herd, which represents an important financial rate to the system.

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A total of 300 weanling pigs (Line 400 × 200, DNA, Columbus, NE, initially 4.83 kg) were used in a 46-d trial to evaluate the effects of different nutritional strategies to replace pharmacological levels of Zn, provided by zinc oxide (ZnO), in nursery diets on growth performance and fecal dry matter (DM). Six treatments with 10 replicate pens per treatment and 5 pigs per pen were used. Diets consisted of: 1) Positive control (ZnO providing 3,000 mg/kg added Zn from d 0 to 7 and 2,000 mg/kg added Zn from d 8 to 25 and 21% crude protein, CP); 2) Negative control (NC; no added ZnO); 3) NC plus 1.2% Na Diformate; 4) NC with 4% coarse ground wheat bran; 5) NC but formulated to 18% CP); and 6) The combination of NC with 18% CP, 1.2% Na Diformate, and 4% coarse ground wheat bran. The diets formulated to 18% CP contained 1.2% standardized ileal digestible (SID) Lys from day 0 to 25 whereas the 21% CP diets contained 1.4% SID Lys from day 0 to 7 and 1.35% SID Lys from d 7 to 25. From d 25 to 46, all pigs were fed a common diet. From d 0 to 7, no differences in any variables were observed between treatments. From d 7 to 25, pigs fed the diet with added ZnO had greater (P &lt; 0.01) ADG and ADFI than all other treatments. Pigs fed the diet formulated to 18% CP had decreased (P &lt; 0.01) ADG compared with pigs fed the other diets. From d 25 to 46, no previous treatment effects on ADG or G:F were observed. Overall (day 0 to 46), pigs fed the diet with added ZnO from d 0 to 25 had greater (P &lt; 0.01) ADG, ADFI, and final BW than pigs fed added Na Diformate, or 4% coarse ground wheat bran, or with the 18% CP diet, with pigs fed the combination of the additives intermediate. There was no evidence for differences in overall G:F. Pigs fed the NC diet had the lowest fecal DM and highest fecal scores (P &lt; 0.05) indicating the greatest incidence of loose stools. Pigs fed added ZnO had greater fecal DM than pigs fed the NC, 4% added wheat bran, or 18% CP diets, with pigs fed the combination of additives intermediate (P &lt; 0.01). These results suggest that adding pharmacological levels of Zn from ZnO improves nursery pig performance and increases DM content of feces when compared with pigs fed diets with either, Na Diformate, 4% course wheat bran, or 18% CP alone. However, a combination of all 3 alternatives appeared to be additive and partially restore growth performance similar to adding pharmacological levels of Zn.