“You’re only as strong as your weakest player.”
We’ve heard this line from our coaches throughout our childhood. Maybe you were the star athlete who mentored teammates that could use some improvement after you heard these words of wisdom. Or maybe you were the kid who immediately thought, “Crap! Is that me?” (guilty!) and spent the rest of the season paranoid you’re bringing down the team.

The prime intention for signing kids up for sports isn’t to create star athletes who go on to make millions in the big leagues. Our kids are part of the team to learn invaluable life lessons about working together toward a common goal.
As sow farm operators, our common goal is to keep sows healthy and productive throughout their life so they farrow healthy and productive pigs for market. I would say we’re succeeding as an industry with increased numbers of pigs out the door every year.
All too often though, our focus on the number of pigs out the door overpowers our focus on sow longevity. This can be a costly mistake.

The “weakest” sows, typically lower parity sows that lose condition in farrowing, often get moved back to breeding with the idea that she will regain condition over the course of gestation. Unfortunately, studies indicate otherwise.
“Anil et al., (2006) reported that sows consuming ≤ 3.5 kg (7.7 lb) of feed per day during the first two weeks of lactation were more likely to be removed from the herd before their next parity. The odds of removal were highest for sows that did not consume any feed during any single day for the first 14 days of lactation. The bottom line from this study is “if the sows don’t eat in lactation, they are going to leave the farm.”” – Managingsows for optimum retention by Zach Rambo, Dr. Jerry Torrison, Mark E. Wilson

We learned these effects are long term at Klocke Farms. By focusing on ad lib feeding at key points in a sow’s reproductive cycle (prebreed and in lactation), sows choose to consume their daily ration at their own time throughout the day instead of when we decide. By giving sows the choice, limited intake days are avoided and sows stay in great condition and remain productive in the herd.
Initially, we observed a huge jump in Total Born with P1 gilts and over time lowered our replacement rate because our Pigs per Sow Lifetime continues to increase. Saving those bottom tier sows changed the entire makeup of our sow herd. Not only do we get more out of each gilt investment, but the herd is healthier and much more uniform overall.
Just like our coaches drilled into us when we were kids, the weak players on a team affect the team’s overall success more than we all think and by bringing that lower tier up, it boosts the team up all around. I guess we can chalk another one up for our childhood coaches!
Until Next Time,
Katie