On a farm in Denmark, Henrik Nielsen buys marzipan pigs from Mette Hjort. The pigs are among the top 25% on several parameters compared to the Danish national average. This is mainly due to the pigs getting a good start in life as well as excellent management.
Henrik Nielsen is a pig producer at Ørnsvig in Denmark, where they receive pigs from Mette and Keld Hjort’s sow farm, Dalhus. At Dalhus, they have a strong focus on producing robust marzipan pigs. And Henrik Nielsen notices the focus on robust pigs when he buys 400 pigs from Dalhus every two weeks.
“It is very important that we receive quality pigs. At the same time, we focus on spotting the pig the day before it becomes ill. This way, we can keep a low mortality rate,” explains Henrik Nielsen, who produces 10,000 finisher pigs a year.
At Ørnsvig, the average survival rate for finisher pigs is 97.8% for the past two years. This is significantly higher than the rest of the industry according to the ‘National average productivity of Danish pig farms 2023’, where the level was 96.6%.
Feed efficiency and a high profit
Genetics make a big difference with regards to e.g. feed efficiency and survival. However, these factors can be improved even further through good management. Therefore, Henrik Nielsen and his employee focus on optimising precisely the things that ultimately result in a better bottom line.
“We adjust the pens, where the piglets are housed, twice. The first time is when they arrive, and the second time three to four weeks later. That way we ensure that we get uniform pigs for slaughter,” he explains.
This gives great results in the stables at Ørnsvig. The finisher pigs have a high average daily gain of 1,153 g, which is 99 g more than the Danish national average for 2023, and an excellent feed efficiency of 2.3 kg feed per kg gain, which is 0.19 kg less feed per kg gain compared to the Danish national average for 2023.
Piglet and finisher survival
Breeding and Genetics in the Danish Agriculture & Food Council is currently researching how to select the piglets and finishers that have the best conditions for surviving from birth all the way to slaughter. There are high expectations for how even more can be done in terms of breeding for survival throughout the pig’s life.
For many years, DanBred has focused on high efficiency through better feed utilisation and high growth rates, which has given particularly finisher pig herds a financial advantage. The latest results from production herds with DanBred genetics show an increase in daily gain of 71 g per day from 2019 to 2023 and an improvement in feed efficiency of 0.06 kg less feed per kg gain over the same time period. The great results from Ørnsvig prove how productivity and robustness go hand in hand.
