Materials & Methods
The trial was conducted at Lone Hollow Farms, LLC which is a 5,650 sow
farrow to wean unit. The farm staff used Absolute's AMGâ„¢ rod to breed half
of the animals each week for 4-6 consecutive weeks. The Primatech rod was used
to breed the other half of the animals each week. Each animal was inseminated by
the same rod design throughout their breeding period.
In total, 735 sows were bred with the AMGâ„¢ rod and 612 sows with
Primatech's product. Between the AMGâ„¢ and Primatech rod, 1,347 animals were bred
for this trial; the animals bred were all the animals in estrus on a given day.
To determine conception rates, the animals were recorded if they returned
to estrus after the initial trial breeding and each animal was also pregnancy
checked with an ultrasound machine 28-32 days after initial breeding to
determine pregnancy status. Conception rates were calculated by comparing the
number of animals initially bred to the number of animals determined pregnant.
At farrowing, the farrowing percent, number of piglets
born live, and total born number of piglets born for the animals bred with the
two different rods were calculated. Farrowing percents were calculated by
comparing number of animals initially bred to the number of animals that
farrowed. Records were obtained by analyzing the farms daily farrowing
records and the use of the Agrosoft Winpig TM record system. All records were
entered into an excel spreadsheet.
Results Conception Rates were higher in the sows bred with the AMGâ„¢ pipette
compared to the Primatech rod by 10.12% (83.3 vs 73.1,
respectively).
Farrowing Rates: were higher in sows bred with the AMGâ„¢ pipette compared to
the Primatech rod by 6.9% (75.4 vs 68.4, respectively).
Total Born: was higher in sows bred with the AMGâ„¢ pipette compared to the
Primatech rod by .91 pigs per litter (12.9 vs 11.9, respectively).
Born Alive: was higher in sows bred with the AMGâ„¢ pipette compared to the
Primatech rod by .8 pigs per litter (12.4 vs 11.6, respectively).
Extreme Labor Savings and farm efficiencies were found when using the AMGâ„¢
pipette. 2 AI technicians could service an entire day's group
(approx. 60 animals) in 1.5 hours, as compared to 6 personnel taking 7-8 hours
to service the same quantity of animals using the traditional product.
Discussion
The improvement in total born and live born can be explained by the design
of Absolute's AMGâ„¢ pipette. As stated earlier, the AMGâ„¢ pipette deposits
the semen directly into the uterus which can lead to a better fertilization when
compared to the traditional Primatech rod. Higher total born numbers also lead
to higher born live numbers per litter.
In conclusion, it appears that Absolute's AMGâ„¢ rod provides positive
results when used on a commercial farm when following ASIC's wean to oestrus
(WOI) breeding protocols. The rod significantly increases total and live born
piglets and also increases conception and farrowing rates; and saves a
significant amount of time in the breeding area. Said time savings helps
further improve farm results by providing extra time for heat detection and
other daily chores.
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