18 Tools Used and Needed in the Gilt Pool Free

Efficient management of gilts requires optimizing boar stimulation to induce a synchronized pubertal estrus for breeding at the optimal stage of body maturity. However, variation in stimulation methods and environment can reduce synchrony, delay puberty, and lead to breeding less than ideal gilts. These issues add open day costs, disrupt animal flow, and can reduce lifetime productivity and longevity. Emphasis on employee training and support with regular assessment and opportunities for feedback can help, especially with daily labor rotation and employee turnover. Certain principles of gilt management, such as methods to maximize boar stimulation, must be applied, while adjusting for available labor and gilt housing. Evaluation for effectiveness often only includes the proportion of gilts mated and those culled due to anestrus. However, a holistic system may need to include gilt selection criteria, pubertal response, and subsequent herd performance. Further, symptoms of estrus vary by gilt, technician interpretation, stimuli applied, and environment. These symptoms can range from clear positive to clear negative or even uncertain and may change within the timeframe of assessment. Effective methods are needed to help producers in gilt selection, evaluation of stimulation, reproductive status diagnosis, and impact of nutrition and environment. Practical approaches that aid in selection based on dam and birth measures, as well as age, growth, and weight are needed. Evaluation of the quality of the stimuli applied from the boar and technician should advance from subjective toward precision. Methods to accurately diagnose the reproductive status of the gilt may include semi or automated sensing systems or manual approaches for measuring hormones, body temperature, vaginal resistance, ovarian and uterine structures, animal behavior, motion, and posture. To be useful, selected methods must be evaluated for their practicality, flexibility in farm systems, costs, accuracy, labor, and actionable perspective.