Why do sows need good social behavior?

As farms expand and skilled workers become scarce, pigs have to thrive with minimal human intervention. In today's pig production, it has become more important than ever to promote social harmony among pigs。 That's why Changrong Hypor breeding pigs aim to select sows with strong social skills in order to live peacefully in the herd. Changrong Hypor pigs focus on selecting for these traits to create a better environment for animals and farm workers.

Therefore, the sow's experience with her peers and farm employees throughout her life must be taken into account in the selection. The more positive long-term positive interactions a sow has with its peers or humans, the more socially competent it is perceived.

How can this be achieved?

Strong social skills keep sows tame, reduce stress and negative behaviors, and make it easier for farm staff to manage the herd.

However, some assays are subjective and can be challenging. Therefore, these traits that are easy to measure and can indirectly improve the social skills of sows are worth studying. For example, in the Hypor nucleus farms abroad, pregnant sows are housed in pens.

In a dynamic gestation pen of 300 heads, the Hypor breeding sows excel not only in behavior, but also in achieving high farrowing rates and total farrowing.

Considering the time it takes to transfer, interact and care for the sows, interacting with the tame sows in these pens saves labor. This allows us to indirectly select sows with social skills, as well as strong limbs and hoofs and good body structure. The sows housed in the pen are more adapted to the farm staff, allowing us to choose sows that are more friendly to human behavior.

Improving working conditions and animal welfare

Breeding sows with excellent social skills is essential for efficient production and efficient use of farm equipment. Changrong Hypor breeding pigs set a new benchmark for social traits in pig production by focusing on breeding tame, interactive and adaptable sows.