19-minute listen
Part I of II: Sow body condition plays an important role during gestation and lactation. Over- and under-conditioned sows do not perform as well as those in the desired condition. Visual body condition scoring is a helpful tool, but it’s also subjective. Incorporating more objective scoring methods helps improve assessment accuracy and enables producers to better manage sow weight.
During this episode, guests Dr. Mark Knauer, North Carolina State swine extension specialist; Dr. Ning Lu, PIC nutritionist, and Dr. Sergio Canavate, PIC technical services, explore quantitative approaches to assess sow body condition and why this measure is important to monitor. They also take a look at the tools available to help understand the impacts of proper sow body condition management.