Transfer
When genetic improvement has been made at the nucleus level, the important question is whether it penetrates to the production herds or is there a genotype by environment interaction between the results from the breeding herds and the results in the production herds? DanBred has carried out two trials to shed light on this question. The trials included the traits daily gain, lean meat percentage and litter size.
The tables below show how the genetic improvement achieved in the breeding programme is being transferred to the production herds and the results of the best commercial farms using DanBred genetics for both slaughter pigs and sow units.
| Genetic improvement per year over the last 4 years |
|
Trait
|
Genetic
improvement
|
Econom.
weight
DKK
|
Value DKK
(100%)
|
Realised
ΔG, %
|
Improvement of
gross margin
DKK/slaughter pigs
|
|
Daily gain, 30-100 kg
|
12.1 g/day
|
0.11
|
1.44
|
70%*
|
1.01
|
|
Feed conversion
|
-0.026 FU/kg
|
-81
|
2.43
|
70%*
|
1.7
|
|
Lean meat %
|
0.07 %
|
8.5
|
0.68
|
140%*
|
0.95
|
|
LP5
|
0.32 pig/litter
|
20.5
|
6.77
|
90%*
|
6.09
|
|
Conformation
|
0.04 points
|
12.5
|
0.63
|
100
|
0.63
|
|
Daily gain, 0-30 kg
|
0.9 g/day
|
0.12
|
0.14
|
100
|
0.14
|
|
Slaughter loss %
|
0.02 kg/pig
|
5
|
0.15
|
100
|
0.15
|
|
Longevity
|
0.48 %
|
0.85
|
0.41
|
100
|
0.41
|
|
Average of all breeds 12.65 11.08
|
* based on testing results
| Production traits of the 5 best Danish commercial herds producing their slaughter pigs with DanBred genetics |
Slaughter pigs
Herd number |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Pigs produced per year |
2,626 |
3,582 |
5145 |
3,080 |
2,455 |
| Daily gain 30 - 100 kg |
1,162 |
1,053 |
1,013 |
1,013 |
1,000 |
| Feed conversion, kg/kg |
2.50 |
2.66 |
2.47 |
2.48 |
2.50 |
| Carcass weight |
83.2 |
83.4 |
80.5 |
82.6 |
82.2 |
| Live slaughter weight |
109 |
109 |
105 |
107 |
107 |
|
Lean meat %
|
59.8 |
59.4 |
59.2 |
60.7 |
60.2 |
|
| Transfer of the genetic value for litter size |
| |
Experiment 1 |
Experiment 2 |
| Herds, number |
4 |
1 |
| Litters, number |
2,500 |
800 |
| Live born |
89 % |
98 % |
| Total number born |
94 % |
128 % |
|
| Reproductive traits of the 5 best Danish commercial sow units using DanBred genetics |
Sow units
Herd number |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Sows in the herd |
459 |
344 |
493 |
660 |
479 |
| Weaned pigs per sow per year |
32.5 |
30.4 |
30.1 |
29.8 |
29.6 |
| Litters per year per sow |
2.46 |
2.42 |
2.41 |
2.34 |
2.37 |
| Liveborn pigs per litter |
14.4 |
13.7 |
14.1 |
14.1 |
13.7 |
| Weaned pigs per litter |
13.2 |
12.6 |
12.5 |
12.7 |
12.5 |
| Age at weaning (days) |
25 |
25 |
25 |
28 |
31 |
| Weight at weaning |
6.1 |
5.7 |
6.5 |
7.3 |
6.8 |
| Daily gain 1.5 to 30 kg |
452 |
390 |
426 |
430 |
428 |
|
Consequently, DanBred is a breeding programme that does not merely create genetic improvement in the nucleus. It has been established that the production herds benefit from these improvements.
|
