Some of these practices are meant for all piglets in the litter, whereas others are mainly for disadvantaged piglets. There is a general time frame in which it is most desirable to perform many of these techniques. Research indicates that attending and assisting at farrowing can increase piglet survival and the number of pigs weaned. By being present at farrowing, one can quickly identify disadvantaged piglets and begin to assist them.
However, each producer should weigh carefully the costs and benefits of supervised farrowings. Having many litters to supervise at one time through batch farrowing or continuous farrowing in a multiple farrowing room complex makes more efficient use of labor. If the amount of heat provided by the zone heaters is excessive, piglets will move away from the heat source. This not only wastes power but can cause the sow to become too warm and increase piglet mortality.
The thermal needs of piglets are met if they are lying in a prone position gently touching each other. If they are piled, attention should be given to providing more heat.
Provide zone heating in the farrowing quarters beginning 24 hours before expected farrowing. Heat lamps, heat pads, radiant heat devices, and hovers are common ways to provide zone heating in farrowing houses. Many times, however, the zone heating is placed only to the side of the sow in the creep area.
Research indicates that having an additional heat lamp placed at the rear of the sow during farrowing reduces piglet mortality. The extra heat source assures the piglet of immediate warmth following birth.
The key is to have the supplemental heat directed behind the sow before farrowing and until farrowing is completed. If there is no extra heat present behind the sow during farrowing, position disadvantaged piglets in a heated area immediately after birth.
The first milk, colostrum, is rich in disease-preventing immunogloblins; the very first colostrum is the richest and best, because the quality of colostrum declines over time. Strong, early-born piglets get to the udder hours before their later-born litter mates and go from teat to teat taking the best colostrum.
Thus, disadvantaged piglets often need assistance to obtain enough colostrum. Below are some methods to ensure piglets obtain an adequate dose of colostrum. The lowest piglet mortality is observed in high birthweight litters with low within-litter piglet weight variation. Crossfostering is the most effective way to reduce within-litter piglet weight variation.
Crossfostering should be practiced carefully to achieve best results. A good crossfostering program makes milk supplies more available to all piglets and does not compromise the health status of the piglets in segregated early weaning SEW programs. Below are important tips to ensure good results from crossfostering. In SEW programs where maximum weaning age is important or in PRRS-positive herds, crossfostering piglets after they are hours old places them at risk of coming into contact with a nurse sow shedding pathogens against which the piglets received no colostral immunity.
Therefore, disease may pass from the nurse sow to the piglets. In these instances, be sure the weaning age of the fostered piglets does not exceed the maximum weaning age set for the farm.
Processing piglets includes clipping teeth, clipping and treating the umbilical cord, iron administration, tail docking, identification, treating splaylegged piglets, providing supplemental nutrients, and castration. These skills can be performed in different ways and in the sequence of personal preference. Some producers elect not to perform all these procedures, or they prefer to delay some of them for three to four days to reduce stress on the very fragile one-day-old piglet.
Those who operate pasture farrowing systems tend to do all their processing of piglets during the first day after farrowing, because the piglets are easier to catch. Have all the equipment you need to process piglets arranged in a hand-held carrier which can be attached to a pig cart preferably on wheels.
While processing piglets, take steps to minimize transfer of disease. This can be done by processing sick litters last, cleaning and disinfecting the box or cart you use to transport piglets when you finish for the day or before you move to another room to process, and dipping instruments into a disinfectant after you have processed each piglet. Be sure to change the disinfectant daily or after processing every tenth litter, whichever comes first. Be careful when removing piglets from the farrowing quarters.
Sows often try to bite or grab you to protect their litter. Always have the farrowing crate or another sturdy partition between you and the sow before you attempt to pick up a piglet. Hold the piglet so you can cut the teeth, tail, and umbilical cord and administer iron in very rapid succession without changing your grip.
Beware not to choke the piglet by pressing the remainder of your fingers into its throat. Dangle the piglet in front of you, and it will struggle less than if you pull it against you. You can also sit and support its weight on your knees if necessary.
The umbilical cord, which enables the fetus to obtain nutrients from the dam and expel wastes during pregnancy, usually does not require much attention. While it is possible that bacteria and viruses can travel up the cord after the piglet is born and cause infection or that piglets can bleed excessively from it, these situations are rare.
Seldom do newborn piglets need to have their umbilical cords tied or clamped. Sometimes newborn piglets bleed excessively immediately after the umbilical cord breaks, especially if it breaks shorter than four to five inches. The loss of blood may cause the piglet to perform poorly or die. Figure 2. If the cord is not dried up but fresh at the time of processing, cut it off with disinfected side cutters.
If the umbilical cord has been tied, you can leave about one inch. Leave three or four inches if the umbilical cord has not been tied; check for bleeding.
Apply iodine antiseptic by swabbing, spraying, or dipping. The dip method requires placing the umbilical cord inside the antiseptic bottle and shaking gently.
Any of these methods is satisfactory, but be sure to get good coverage of the umbilical cord. Use disinfected side cutters and a fresh iodine solution changed daily if dipping or swabbing, since iodine solutions break down in the presence of organic matter. A contaminated iodine solution might actually cause an infection.
If the cord is dry and shriveled, it is not necessary to treat. Just cut it off, leaving one to three inches of cord. Figure 3. The newborn piglet has eight needle teeth, sometimes referred to as wolf teeth, located on the sides of the upper and lower jaws.
Some producers have stopped teeth clipping entirely while others do it as needed and they have not observed any serious problems. It seems less necessary to clip teeth of piglets nursing well-milking sows. However, in cases when sows are not milking well, or if greasy pig disease is a problem, teeth clipping appears necessary for optimum results. The undocked tail is a very convenient target for tail biting or cannibalism.
This leads to injury and possibly infection. To reduce tail biting, dock or cut off the tail of newborn piglets within about 24 hours after birth.
Tail docking is usually required by purchasers of early weaned or feeder pigs. It should be done within about 24 hours after birth because it is least stressful on the piglet for these reasons: the piglets are small and easy to hold; at this age, littermates are less likely to investigate and nip or bite a newly docked tail; the piglet and farrowing quarters are still clean; and the piglet is well protected with antibodies from the colostrum of the sow.
However, some producers delay docking the tails of male piglets in the litter until castration. The males are easier to find in a litter if their tails have not been docked.
Dock the tail about one inch or width of your thumb from the place where the tail joins the body of the piglet. If too much tail is left, tail biting might still occur. Occasionally, a tail will bleed excessively. If this occurs, tie it off using the same method as for umbilical cords. Use sterilized side cutters most commonly used , a chicken debeaker, or a special heated cutter to cauterize the cut tail. Do not use a very sharp instrument, such as a scalpel, because excess bleeding may occur.
To cauterize properly, cut the tail slowly so the hot blade has time to cauterize the tail as you cut. Cauterizing leaves a cleaner wound that bleeds less than when side cutters are used. Apply an antiseptic to the wound. The tail should be completely healed within days. Iron is necessary to prevent anemia in piglets. With no access to soil, iron deficiency anemia may result within days after birth. Iron can be administered either by injection or orally.
Injection is preferred because iron given orally is not as well absorbed by piglets, thus reducing the quantity of iron that reaches critical tissues. In addition, oral iron may not be absorbed in piglets with diarrhea. Figure 7.
Injecting iron into the neck muscle. Administer iron to piglets while they are one to three days old. Give piglets mg of iron either as one injection while they are one to three days old or in two mg injections—one between one and three days of age and again at weaning. Read the label carefully to learn the iron concentration of the product you are using.
Do not overdose, as too much iron can be toxic. Using a clean syringe, withdraw iron solution from its container, using a 14 or 16 gauge large diameter needle which is left inserted in bottle. The idea is to avoid using a contaminated needle to draw iron from the bottle. Otherwise, foreign matter and pathogens will likely be introduced into the bottle. Some producers decide to change needles after they have finished giving iron injections to each litter.
In this case, it is not necessary to use a different needle to draw iron from the bottle. If there are air bubbles in the syringe, point the needle up, tap the syringe and push the air out. Inject iron into the neck muscle just off the midline Figure 7. Iron should not be injected into the ham. The injection should be given in the neck because of possible sciatic nerve damage, scarring, and also, because of residual iron stain in the carcass of market hogs if it is given in the ham.
If the injection site is dirty, wipe it clean with an antiseptic before injecting. Be careful not to inject into the spinal area. Insert the needle perpendicular to site and inject. Consider placing a finger on the site momentarily to help prevent or reduce runback if necessary. Be sure to inject the iron into the muscle, not just beneath the skin. For convenience, some producers mix various injectables together with iron and inject the solution into piglets while they are processed.
This practice is not recommended unless prescribed by a veterinarian, because it is possible that the products could be rendered ineffective and possibly toxic to piglets. In some pork producing operations, it is important that piglets be permanently identified at birth. Options for permanent identification included ear notching or tattooing. Ear notching is the more common method. Each piglet must have a unique ear notch or tattoo in seedstock herds because it is a requirement for pedigree and performance records.
It is not necessary that each piglet have an individual number in operations where all hogs except replacement gilts are marketed for slaughter. Each litter, or all piglets in a farrowing group, or only gilts to be considered for replacements might be ear notched or tattooed at birth with the same patterns. The most common ear notching system is shown in Figure 8. It is the identification system required by the purebred swine associations in the U.
Several modifications of the system exist. Use a V-ear notcher designed for piglets to ear notch. Some producers use a hole puncher to place a hole in one ear for identification. Firmly hold the ear you are notching and place the portion of the ear you are notching well back into the jaws of the notcher Figure 9. Notches that are too shallow may fill in, heal over, and be difficult to read. Leave at least one-fourth inch between notches.
Do not make notches too close to the tip of the ear, as these can be torn off. When you have notches on both top and bottom of the ear near the tip, position them so that the deep points of the notches are offset from each other.
When making notches on top of the ear close to the head, uncurl the ear with your fingers so you can make it deep into the cartilage. Otherwise, it might be unreadable after it heals. Use tattooing pliers designed for small animals to tattoo piglets.
Apply the tattoo to the backside of the ear so it can be read easily as the piglet grows. Be sure to apply even pressure across the entire tattoo area i. Avoid tattooing piglets with color on their ears, because the tattoo will be hard to read. Green ink seems to work the best.
Figure 8. Examples of ear-notching numbering systems: A. Universal earnotching system using litter and individual pig numbers; B. Using individual pig numbers. Many liveborn piglets die because they starve.
Disadvantaged piglets are most affected because they cannot compete well for milk and they are most vulnerable to chilling. Producers can improve their survival rate by giving a supplemental source of nutrients the first few hours of life. Provide disadvantaged piglets with 10 to 15 ml of milk every six to 12 hours during the first day or two following farrowing. The economic benefit of providing supplemental milk to piglets depends primarily on the preweaning survival rate of piglets in the herd and on the anticipated profit from the piglet.
It is critical that the first dose be colostrum, especially if the piglet has not suckled. Colostrum from the dam is best, but obtaining it is time consuming. Commercial milk replacers have proven effective after the piglets receive an adequate dose of colostrum.
Some people use products containing medium chain fatty acids MCT in lieu of milk, but research results on their effectiveness are mixed. Use a stomach tube or a syringe to give the supplemental milk to the piglets. Splaylegged piglets appear to be normal except when they attempt to stand, their hind legs and sometimes front legs extend sideways. The condition appears to be a congenital disease with a higher incidence in litters with a day or shorter gestation period. Also, a slippery floor in the farrowing quarters can be an important predisposing factor.
Nutrition does not appear to play a role. The mortality rate in piglets where only the back legs are splayed can be reduced by taping the legs soon after birth to prevent them from extending sideways. Piglets are born out of the warm environment of the uterus directly into the cold and wet environment of the farrowing area.
Newly born piglets do not have much innate heat capacity or energy reserves. Therefore the farrowing room management must provide adequate heating, with a room temperature of 20oC and a brighter section, heated to at least 35oC, to provide a safe and warm space for the piglets to sleep away from the sow.
Piglet chilling will occur if the farrowing pens are draughty and the floors are cold and damp. When piglets become chilled, they will move towards the sow to try to stay warm and may suffer more from overlay injuries. The farrowing areas need to have adequate building maintenance with no door, curtain or window draughts, with pens containing suitable sleeping areas, active heat lamps and warm, dry floors. This is particularly important in regions with cold weather periods.
Many farms use bedding materials and mats to assist the piglets find a warm and dry sleeping area. Unlike in dogs and humans, there is no transfer of any protective materials through the placental membranes in foetal pigs.
The piglet is therefore born 'naked' and requires an immediate intake of these protective materials, such as cells and antibodies, contained in the first milk of the sow, or colostrum. The colostrum should be yellow and creamy and produced for the first day of lactation. If there is insufficient intake of colostrum, then the farmer may notice increased numbers of sick piglets. Affected piglets are dull and walking in a weak manner.
These piglets appear cold, shivering, with poor breathing and blue extremities. They do not eat readily, huddle in groups and may die. This condition is often a form of Escherichia coli blood poisoning in young piglets, known as coli-septicaemia. Coli-septicaemia occurs when there is insufficient intake of colostrum by the newly born piglets, with a reduction in blood levels of antibodies needed to fight these environmental bacteria.
Coli-septicaemia may coincide with other farrowing house problems such as low milk production or mastitis in sows. The management of farrowing areas requires sufficient staff to assist newborn piglets to suckle colostrum, including those born during night time hours. The udders of gilts and sows should be cleaned regularly. Farrowing areas will be a reservoir of infection and cleaning must include the use of detergents to remove the fatty areas derived from sow milk.
Bacterial diarrhoea among neonatal piglets baby pig scours is frequent, if there is an incomplete vaccination programme for the breeding pigs. Diarrhoea problems can appear to spread around litters in the farrowing areas. The affected piglets are generally one to seven days-old, with watery white-yellow diarrhoea, ejected as a stream from the anus.
At autopsy of affected piglets, will be dehydration with a loss of fat reserves, with dilation of the intestines by watery contents. This type of diarrhoea in young piglets is most suggestive of the common form of neonatal colibacillosis in piglets, caused by enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli ETEC.
These ETEC are located in the farrowing pen environment and are ingested by the piglet soon after birth. The bacteria then attach to the intestines and cause an outpouring of fluid into the intestine and diarrhoea. Affected piglets may be treated with oral antibiotics and re-hydration electrolytes to replace body fluids. It is important to limit the spread of the ETEC around the farrowing rooms. Handling of affected piglets should be done after normal ones, with separate boots and clothes.
Vaccines against ETEC are widely used in pregnant gilts and sows to raise protective immunity and antibody levels, which are transferred to piglets via the colostrum. Some authorities also recommend the procedure of feeding faecal materials to the gilts in late gestation feedback. This faecal material may be diarrhoea from affected piglets collected on toilet paper. In older piglets, the main cause of scours is coccidiosis.
Coccidia are microscopic parasites that pass eggs known as oocysts in the piglet faeces onto the floor of the farrowing pens. Major causes of death were crushing by the sow, low birth weight, starvation, splay-leg disease and enteritis. Of these animals Mortality decreased during the preweaning period. Litters with more than 11 pigs had elevated death rates of piglets.
Mortality was higher during the cold season except January. Postweaning losses: During the postweaning period 6.
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