The article describes development of a bilingual poster to assists pig producers in classifying body condition scores (BCS) in sows. Sows of the lowest body condition score were purchased, fed for 96 days, and photographed as each sow incrementally increased to the maximum BCS of 5. Pictures from two sows of each BCS of 1 through 5 were professionally arranged on a poster and published in a nationally distributed swine magazine. The poster was designed to assist producers in employee training at the farm level. Similar posters could be developed to improve selection and/or management skills in other livestock species

Fitzgerald, Robert

Johnson, Colin

Karriker, Locke

Stalder, Kenneth

English

Clemson University: TigerPrints

The Journal of Extension Volume 46 Number 2 Article 28 4-1-2008 Developing and Utilizing Visual Tools to Assist Pork Producers in Employee Training in the Evaluation of Sow Body Condition Robert Fitzgerald Iowa State University, rfitzgerald@iastate.edu Kenneth Stalder Iowa State University, stalder@iastate.edu Locke Karriker Iowa State University, karriker@iastate.edu Colin Johnson Iowa State University, colinj@iastate.edu This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Fitzgerald, R., Stalder, K., Karriker, L., & Johnson, C. (2008). Developing and Utilizing Visual Tools to Assist Pork Producers in Employee Training in the Evaluation of Sow Body Condition. The Journal of Extension, 46(2), Article 28. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/joe/vol46/iss2/28 This Tools of the Trade is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Journal of Extension by an authorized editor of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact kokeefe@clemson.edu. 	 JOEHOME JOURNAL GUIDELINES ABOUT	JOE CONTACT NATIONAL	JOB	BANKCurrent	Issues Back	IssuesApril	2008	//	Volume	46	//	Number	2	//	Tools	of	the	Trade	//	2TOT7Developing	and	Utilizing	Visual	Tools	to	Assist	Pork	Producersin	Employee	Training	in	the	Evaluation	of	Sow	Body	ConditionAbstractThe	article	describes	development	of	a	bilingual	poster	to	assists	pig	producers	in	classifyingbody	condition	scores	(BCS)	in	sows.	Sows	of	the	lowest	body	condition	score	were	purchased,fed	for	96	days,	and	photographed	as	each	sow	incrementally	increased	to	the	maximum	BCS	of5.	Pictures	from	two	sows	of	each	BCS	of	1	through	5	were	professionally	arranged	on	a	posterand	published	in	a	nationally	distributed	swine	magazine.	The	poster	was	designed	to	assistproducers	in	employee	training	at	the	farm	level.	Similar	posters	could	be	developed	to	improveselection	and/or	management	skills	in	other	livestock	species.	IntroductionBody	condition	scoring	(BCS)	is	utilized	on	commercial	sow	operations	to	evaluate	a	combination	ofweight,	backfat,	and	muscle	on	individual	sows.	Body	condition	is	most	commonly	evaluated	aftersows	have	completed	lactation	and	is	done	using	a	5-point	scoring	system	(Patience	&	Thacker,1995)	or	a	similar	system.	Scoring	allows	producers	to	classify	sows'	body	condition	and	increaseor	decrease	the	amount	of	feed	for	thin	or	excessively	conditioned	sows,	respectively,	in	order	tomaintain	optimal	sow	performance.	The	goal	is	to	increase	body	condition	to	the	ideal	BCS	of	3before	the	sow	farrows	her	next	litter	(Coffey,	Parker,	&	Laurent,	1999;	Patience	&	Thacker,	1995).During	lactation,	metabolic	demands	may	require	a	sow	to	utilize	fat	and	muscle	body	reserves	tomaintain	energy	and	protein	levels	associated	with	peak	milk	production.	When	a	great	deal	of	fatand	muscle	are	utilized	as	is	the	case	when	sows	do	not	consume	enough	feed	to	meet	lactationdemands,	sows	become	thin,	or	attain	poor	body	condition.Robert	FitzgeraldPh.D.	Graduate	Student	in	Animal	Sciencerfitzger@iastate.eduKenneth	StalderAssociate	Professor	and	Extension	Swine	Specialiststalder@iastate.eduLocke	KarrikerAssistant	Professorkarriker@iastate.eduColin	JohnsonSwine	Extension	Program	Specialistcolinj@iastate.eduLori	LaymanResearch	Associate	IIllayman@iastate.eduAnna	JohnsonAssistant	Professorjohnsona@iastate.eduIowa	State	UniversityAmes,	IowaVisual	body	condition	scoring	is	a	rapid	and	inexpensive	methodology	to	determine	the	amount	ofbody	fat	and	muscle	reserves	each	sow	possesses.	Determining	body	reserves	allows	producers	toadjust	individual	sow	feed	allotment	accordingly	so	that	thin	or	poorly	conditioned	sows	willreceive	more	feed	and	overly	conditioned	sows	will	receive	less	feed.	Adjusting	feed	intakeaccording	to	body	condition	will	help	producers	attain	a	more	profitable	operation.Visual	scoring	systems	have	been	discounted	due	to	their	subjectivity	and	perceived	inaccuracy	ofscores	compared	to	directly	measuring	sow	backfat	(Maes,	Janssens,	Delputte,	Lammertyn,	&	deKruif,	2004)	or	using	objective	flank-to-flank	and	heart	girth	measurements.	It	has	beenhypothesized	that	these	inaccuracies	may	be	related	to	a	lack	of	evaluator	training	and	availabilityof	a	consistent	standard	for	body	condition.MethodologyThe	objective	of	the	project	described	here	was	to	develop	a	new	visual	guide	that	assists	pigproducers	in	accurately	assessing	body	condition	within	their	sow	herds.	To	conduct	this	project,29	sows	with	visual	body	condition	scores	of	1	or	2	and	healthy	in	appearance	were	purchasedfrom	a	Midwestern	U.S.	sow	integrator.	The	sows	were	transported	to	an	unused	sow	facility	nearAmes,	Iowa,	and	housed	in	farrowing	stalls	(N	=	17)	or	pens	(N	=	12).	Sows	were	fed	acommercially	available	gestation	ration	twice	per	day.The	trial	lasted	for	96	days,	and	body	weight,	tenth	and	last	rib	backfat,	loin	eye	area,	flank-to-flank	girth,	and	heart	girth	were	measured	every	14	days.	Sows	were	objectively	assigned	a	bodycondition	score	based	on	millimeters	of	last	rib	backfat	using	the	table	published	in	the	Tri-StateSwine	Nutrition	Guide	(Hill,	Rozeboom,	Trottier,	Mahan,	Adeoli,	Cline,	Forsyth,	&	Richert,	1998).Poster	DevelopmentThe	original	project	to	evaluate	body	condition	of	sows	was	sponsored	by	the	National	Pork	Board,the	U.S.	pork	commodity	group.	During	this	project,	sows	were	photographed	at	the	initiation	ofthe	trial	and	at	each	subsequent	increase	in	BCS	to	visually	record	changes	in	body	condition.Sows	were	photographed	from	five	viewpoints	(1.	Front	view	eye	level	with	sow,	2.	Side	view	frontfrom	45	degrees	off	sow	midline,	3.	Rear	view	at	eye	level	of	sow,	4.	Rear	view	approximately	0.5m	above	sow	topline,	5.	Side	view	rear	from	45	degrees	off	sow	midline)	that	illustrated	the	bestanatomical	locations	to	observe	fat	deposits,	muscle	shape,	or	lack	thereof.	The	formation	of	theBCS	guide	required	sows	to	reach	a	BCS	of	5	(five	sows	did	not	complete	the	trial	due	to	healthrelated	issues	that	originated	on	the	farm).	Each	sow	was	photographed	at	each	BCS	of	1	through5.At	the	end	of	the	project,	the	National	Hog	Farmer	Magazine	cooperated	with	Iowa	State	UniversityExtension	personnel	in	the	development	and	distribution	of	the	sow	body	condition	poster.	Twosows	were	selected	for	the	poster	due	to	their	photographs	best	represented	each	BCS.Photographs	of	the	incremental	changes	in	BCSs	were	electronically	arranged	in	photomanagement	software,	and	captions	beneath	each	score	were	used	to	describe	anatomicallocations	of	interest	to	accurately	evaluate	sow	body	condition.	The	size	of	the	poster	equaled	71.1cm	tall	x	50.8	cm	wide.	Industry	sponsorship	was	attained	to	defer	some	of	the	poster	publicationcosts.English	captions	were	translated	to	Spanish	and	added	to	the	poster	in	order	to	enhance	theposter's	use	by	the	large	Hispanic	population	working	in	U.S.	swine	production	facilities.	The	posterwas	designed	to	be	placed	in	gestation	and	farrowing	barns	for	easy	reference	by	employees.Additionally,	handheld	versions	of	the	poster	were	produced	for	real-time	comparison	during	bodycondition	scoring.	The	National	Swine	Improvement	Federation	and	the	American	Association	ofSwine	Veterinarians	have	endorsed	the	poster.ConclusionThe	BCS	poster	was	published	in	a	swine	trade	magazine	and	was	distributed	to	over	26,000subscribers	who	are	primarily	swine	producers	and	managers,	allied	industry	members,	Extensionspecialists	and	agents,	and	other	industry	supporters.	The	BCS	poster	provides	a	clear	and	easyavenue	to	communicate	economically	important	principles	or	tasks	to	employees,	especially	thoseexperiencing	a	language	barrier.Furthermore,	the	project	demonstrates	a	new	way	of	cooperatively	delivering	educationalmaterials	to	a	vast	audience.	Cooperation	between	the	pork	commodity	group,	industrysponsorship,	a	popular	press	magazine,	and	a	state	Extension	service	came	together	to	deliver	aneducational	tool	that	has	been	widely	adopted	and	utilized	at	the	farm	level.	The	poster'sacceptance	has	now	gone	international.	The	BCS	poster	will	appear	in	the	Chinese	and	Finnish	porkproduction	sectors	in	late	2007	or	early	2008.	Similar	posters	can	be	developed	by	Extensionworkers	producers	on	a	wide	variety	of	topics	depending	on	clientele	need.	Support	for	futureposters	can	be	garnered	from	a	variety	of	sources.ReferencesMaes,	D.,	Janssens,	G.,	Delputte,	P.,	Lammertyn,	A.,	&	de	Kruif,	A.	(2004).	Back	fat	measurementsin	sows	from	three	commercial	pig	herds:	relationship	with	reproductive	efficiency	and	correlationwith	visual	body	condition	scores.	Livestock	Production	Science,	91,	57-67.Hill,	G.,	Rozeboom,	D.,	Trottier,	N.,	Mahan,	D.,	Adeoli,	L.,	Cline,	T.,	Forsyth,	D.,	&	Richert,	B.	(1998).Tri-State	swine	nutrition	guide.	Retrieved	April	17,	2008	from:http://ohioline.osu.edu/b869/index.htmlPatience,	J.,	Thacker,	P.,	&	de	Lange,	C.	(1995).	Swine	nutrition	guide.	pp.	144-146.	Saskatoon,Canada:	Prairie	Swine	Centre.Coffey,	R.,	Parker,	G.,	&	Laurent,	K.	(1999).	Assessing	sow	body	condition.	ASC-158.	Lexington,	KY:University	of	Kentucky	Cooperative	Extension	Service.Copyright	�	by	Extension	Journal,	Inc.	ISSN	1077-5315.	Articles	appearing	in	the	Journal	become	the	property	of	theJournal.	 Single	 copies	 of	 articles	 may	 be	 reproduced	 in	 electronic	 or	 print	 form	 for	 use	 in	 educational	 or	 trainingactivities.	Inclusion	of	articles	in	other	publications,	electronic	sources,	or	systematic	large-scale	distribution	may	bedone	only	with	prior	electronic	or	written	permission	of	the	Journal	Editorial	Office,	joe-ed@joe.org.If	you	have	difficulties	viewing	or	printing	this	page,	please	contact	JOE	Technical	Support©	Copyright	by	Extension	Journal,	Inc.	ISSN	1077-5315.	Copyright	Policy

Developing and Utilizing Visual Tools to Assist Pork Producers in Employee Training in the Evaluation of Sow Body Condition

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Developing and Utilizing Visual Tools to Assist Pork Producers in Employee Training in the Evaluation of Sow Body Condition

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