Sow management to reduce empty days

Ciarán Carroll has seen a rise in empty days, when sows are neither pregnant nor nursing, on several farms. In this article, he shares practical tips to help reduce empty days through better sow management.

A good target is 9 to 13 empty days per litter. Any higher than this can have a significant impact on farm productivity and profitability. To address empty days, we must focus on several key areas: nutrition, heat detection, breeding management, and herd health. Here’s a checklist to help you focus on reducing empty days on your farm:

Nutrition and body condition

• Provide high-energy, nutrient-rich lactation diets.
• Monitor and maintain optimal body condition score at weaning, aim for a BCS of 3.0–3.5
• Prevent excessive weight loss during lactation.

Heat detection

• Perform heat checks twice daily, morning and afternoon.
• Use mature, active boars to stimulate oestrus.
• Train staff to recognize standing heat and subtle signs of oestrus.
• Patience is a key requirement at this time.

Breeding management

• Inseminate at the correct time, typically 12–24 hours after standing heat begins.
• Use high-quality, fresh or well-preserved semen.
• Apply proper AI technique and hygiene protocols.
• Again, patience is a key requirement at this time. Don’t rush.

Health and hygiene

• Maintain a regular vaccination and deworming programme.
• Monitor sows and gilts for signs of lameness, mastitis, or uterine infections.
• Reduce stress, from mixing, especially after weaning, or from rough handling.

Environment

• Ensure proper temperature, ventilation, and lighting: 360 lux for 16 hours per day, use a timer switch.
• Minimize sudden changes in housing or grouping post-weaning.
• Provide an adequate source and quantity of environmental enrichment to help reduce stress.

Gilt and parity-specific management

• Provide acclimatization period for gilts with boar exposure.
• Where possible, move the gilts to the boar for oestrus stimulation, rather than moving the boar to the gilts.
• Adjust feeding and handling protocols by parity.

Data and records

• Records and monitor weaning-to-estrus interval, conception and farrowing rates.
• Identify repeat breeders or problem sows early.
• Cull all second repeats.
• Review performance data monthly and adjust management strategies accordingly.