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Management of Litter:

To Reduce Problem of Post -Farrowing

Bridget CoBaby Jane De Guzman

Ivane Abigail Lee

Carrie Josephine Rodriguez

Rachelle So

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Care and Management of Young Pigs

The most critical period in the life of pigs is

from birth to eight weeks old.

During the short period, young pigs may die

from crushing, starvation, suffocation,

chilling, nutritional anemia, baby pig scours,

other nutritional diseases.

Some pigs may be eaten either by the

mother or by other pigs in the herd.

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Care of baby pigs at farrowing As a pig comes out of the vulva, the membrane

covering its body should be removed with a pieceof cloth or clean sack.

The mucous membrane that covers its nose shouldalso be removed to keep the baby pig fromstruggling for breath.

If the baby pig shows some difficulty in breathing,the hindlegs should be held up, with the headhanging. Then swing the pig slowly to force themucous out of the nostrils and to activate the heartand lungs. The breast should be massage lightly tostimulate breathing.

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The navel cord of the baby pig should be cut about

two inches from the base just after delivery.

After cutting of the cord, painted with tincture of

iodine to prevent infection.

If the teeth are clipped, care must be exercised toavoid injury to the gums.

Chilled or weak pigs may be fed one or two

teaspoons of corn syrup diluted with two parts of

water every two or three hours.

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Navel Cord

The navel cord of the piglet should be cut

about 2 inches from the base, just after

delivery. Forceps is applied to the cord or a

thread tied around it to stop bleeding. After

cutting the cord, put with tincture of iodine

to prevent infection.

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Crushing

Crushing or on lying occurs worldwide

affecting newborn piglets and piglets. The

effects are injury or death for the piglet.

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Causes of Crushing

The underlying reason for crushing and is lying aboutthe disparity between the size of the piglet at birth (1.2kg) and that of the sow (250 kg) and occurs particularlywhen the sow lies down to rest or to Suckle the litter.

Piglet reason for failure include: starvation leading to frequent testing of the udder and

therefore exposure to the danger area

hypoglycaemiathat resulted from starvation

splay leg, Joint ill and other lamenesses

results in septicemia and fever illness in the piglet weakness at birth and chilling

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Husbandry factors in crushing include:

inadequate separation of sow and litter

long straw bedding so piglets can not escape

inadequate rail or crate design

low temperature - in temperate climates, farrowing roomtemperatures may be fine during the day but drop sharply atnight, room temperatures should be checked during the night ifa problem is about lying

Sow factors include:

mastitis

general illness such as erysipelas which lead to reduction in sowmilk supply

lame ness which results in poor movement control

Inexperienced and behavior as in gilt

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Where the piglet is not seen in life, at least one of the

other piglets in the litter may be affected by causes ofpiglet failure. Starvation, diarrhea, chilling, splayleg, congenital tremor weakness and often affect thewhole litter.

Illness in the sow, such as agalactia, May be obvious from

direct inspection. The sow may not have eaten and maybe depressed or fevered. Scratches from piglet toothmarks may be visible on the udder or there may be visibleevidence of mastitis and agalactia.

Lameness in the sow can be identified by inspection, but

it is often necessary to get the sow to stand before thiscan be confirmed. Behavioral problems often occur in giltand may take the form of savage or simple poor mother.

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Treatment and Control of Crushing

Crushing can be prevented by correction of the underlyingproblem.

Where the sow is ill (mastitis, erysipelas) And can betreated, the litter should be supported until she hasrecovered.

Where the problem can not be resolved during the suckingperiod (lame ness, serious illness), the litter may befostered or reared artificially.

Sows with behavioral problems should be culled fromcrushing or prevented by physical means, such as crates.

Husbandry measures can prevent crushing. The most useful short term measure is the use of a blow

away unit which produces a current of air beneath the soweach time she stands up and piglets prevents her fromsettling underneath, where they may be crushed.

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Farrowing crates should be adjusted for the size ofthe sow. Poor crate design can be corrected, but onlyin the longer term.

Farrowing pen and warm lighting should beadjusted creeps provided to separate piglets fromthe sow, particularly at farrowing.

Attendance at farrowing may reduce crushing.

Fine bedding, such as sawdust should be provided. Piglet problems can be corrected by managing splay

leg, treating infections and providing supplementaryfeeding.

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Thermal Stress

One of the most significant stressors a pig experiences uponbirth is the challenge to adapt to the thermal environment.Unlike many mammals, piglets do not possess brown adiposetissue, a type of fat that enables newborn animals to generate agreat deal of combined with very little subcutaneous fat and a

lack of a significant hair coat, ill-prepares the piglet to enter acold environment.

Piglet is required to stay close to the dam or a heat source toavoid hypothermia.

The shivering response is used as a back up response for thepiglet to generate heat in a cold environment; however, if the

piglet has been subjected to this much cold stress, it is alreadytoo much, and likely to cause pigs to become susceptible todisease, starvation, and crushing.

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The dams belly provides an excellent heatsource for the newborn pig but positions it in alocation in which it may easily becomecrushed; without an adequate substitute heat

source crushing rates can be very high. During the first three days after birth, piglets

have a high attraction to the dams udder andrelatively little attraction to the heat lamp.

Research has shown that by transferring theodor of the dam to an area under the heat lampthe more piglets can be drawn to this safe area.

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Sanitation

Losses due to swine disease and worms can be

avoided by proper cleaning of farrowing pen

before it is used.

The sides, underline, feet and legs of the sowshould be brushed and washed with soap and

warm water before she is placed in the

farrowing pen. Any dirt left on the sow maycontain worm eggs which, if eaten by piglets,

could produce worm infection.