In modern swine production, maintaining a high-quality sow herd is essential. This involves regularly replacing older sows with new, high-performing gilts while removing those that are weak, have delayed estrus, poor lactation ability, or fail to breed effectively. A gilt refers to a female pig raised specifically for breeding purposes before her first mating. Selecting gilts is a complex and critical process that spans the entire growth period, requiring careful evaluation of multiple factors throughout their development.
When choosing maternal gilts, it's important to select from sows that have a high litter size, good farrowing rate, and produce piglets with high weaning weights. Ideally, the gilts should come from the offspring of 2 to 5 sows to ensure genetic consistency and performance. Their parents must demonstrate strong productivity, fast growth rates, good disease resistance, and efficient feed conversion.
The gilts’ siblings should also be evaluated. They should display similar carcass traits, high uniformity, and minimal individual variation. It’s crucial that there are no hereditary issues such as hernias, cryptorchidism, milk-sucking behavior, or rectal prolapse in the family line.
For the gilts themselves, their overall appearance and performance should meet breed-specific standards. This includes features like coat color, head shape, ear structure, body conformation, and general health. Their fur should be shiny, their back broad, hindquarters well-developed, and their bodies full and balanced. Legs should be strong and correctly aligned, not overly straight. They should have at least seven pairs of functional teats (six for lean-type pigs), evenly spaced and free from genetic defects like underdeveloped or extra nipples.
Genital development is also key—well-formed, drooping udders with a normal shape are desirable. The gilts should have a birth weight over 1.5 kg, reach 8 kg by weaning at 28 days, and weigh around 30 kg at 70 days. Their body condition should be moderate, neither too fat nor too thin.
Before their first breeding, gilts with poor sexual development, irregular estrus cycles, or unclear signs of heat should be culled early to maintain herd efficiency and productivity. This thorough selection process ensures only the best gilts are retained, leading to improved reproductive performance and long-term profitability in swine farming.
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