Causes of culling and death in sows

Over a 4-year period, the annual number of culled sows in 9 Danish herds averaged 54.8 per cent of the year-sows and the number of culled sows in per cent of total number of farrowings averaged 25.8 (Table I). -- The culling rate varied considerably from herd to herd within the same year and from year to year (Tables I and II); however, the average annual culling rate for all the herds only presented small variations (Table II). The average number of litters reared per sow before culling was 3.6. The culling rate was higher in pedigree herds than in commercial herds, and it was highest in the small pedigree herds (Table III). The hygiene level in the herds and the introduction of new female breeding stock did not influence the culling rate (Table IV). A proportionally lower percentage of the sows was culled in herds where the dry and pregnant sows were housed in stalls and/or were tethered, as compared to herds where these sows were housed in pens (Table V). -- The culling rate in the age groups of sows with less than 8 farrowings remained at approximately the same level (Table VI). The main reason for culling was infertility problems, which were recorded in 41.4 per cent of the culled sows, while 16.7 per cent of the sows were culled because their litters were poor and/or small (Table VII). The mortality rate among the culled sows was 11.9 (Table VII), and the main causes of death were chronic pyogenic infections, which occurred in 25.5 per cent of the fatal cases (Table VIII). Certain aspects concerning the recording and calculation of culling rates in the different herds are discussed and it is emphasized that the culling rate per se may not have any direct relationship to the productivity in the herd.