14 The Trusted Source for Canada’s Pork Producers Better Pork | April 2024 Sow Survivability Genetic improvement for sow prolificacy has been very successful. Unfortunately, sow survivability has inadvertently been decreasing. This has become a growing challenge in the global swine industry. Not only are there large economic impacts related to the loss of a productive sow, but herd performance, staff morale, animal welfare, and resources used for production are also negatively affected. Underlying causes of sow mortality can be categorized as either infectious or non-infectious. Infectious causes can be reduced through a high health status via strict biosecurity protocols and proper individual animal care. Non-infectious causes, in which genetics can play a role, are primarily lameness, pelvic organ prolapse, and factors leading to sudden death. Sow mortality often involves multiple risk factors and various bacterial agents. Genetics and effective management strategies can help solve this challenge. This article will delve into an overview of sow mortality causes and management strategies to help minimize losses. Sow mortality causes Sow mortality rates across the industry were estimated at 11 to 14 per cent in 2022, depending on the database used. They have all had a clear upward trend over the last decade and the first reports for 2023 are not showing any signs of improvement. The main reported causes of sow mortality from one large recent study were sudden death (31.2 per cent), lameness (28.8 per cent), and prolapse (28.0 per cent), followed by other causes (12.0 per cent). (Fig. 1.) Underlying these causes are primarily non-infectious types of risk factors, many of which are consistently reported in the literature. These include heat stress, housing systems, locomotive problems, body condition, and gastrointestinal complications that A BALANCED AND SUSTAINABLE BREEDING APPROACH IS CRITICAL. UNDERSTANDING & ADDRESSING SOW MORTALITY By BRENT DeVRIES & AFTON SAWYER, For HYPOR Martin Schwalbe photo
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