Rules and basic points in caring for newborn piglets

0

2020

Article rating

Pigs are highly fertile among farm animals. Depending on the breed, one sow can produce 8 to 10 pups at a time. However, newborn piglets require special care, as their immunity has not yet matured. Very often, babies are born with anemia, so the first days you need to carefully monitor the offspring.

Piglets

Also, livestock breeders are faced with a nutritional problem: sometimes the cub bites the sow's nipples, injuring the pig, or refuses milk feeding.

To breed piglets, farmers should also know the rules for weaning offspring from a sow and the particular conditions of keeping, depending on the breed of pig.

Caring for newborn artiodactyls

The birth of domestic piglets is an expected event on any farm. Farrowing requires a lot of energy from the sow and cubs, so the process needs to be monitored. Births in some breeds have their own characteristics, but the general rules apply to farm pigs and dwarf species.

Farrowing cannot be called an ordinary thing; it requires careful preparation from the breeder. Preparations include:

1. Equipment for childbirth and the first months of life of piglets.
2. Buying all the necessary vitamin supplements and medicines.
3. Milking the female just before giving birth.
4. Setting up a container of warm water and a cloth for receiving babies.

Farrowing in a sow requires prompt action on the part of the owner. During the reception of the litter you need:

1. Remove mucus from the skin of the cubs and clean the patch with them. Sometimes piglets can be born with the remains of the birth sac, which are also removed.
2. The umbilical cord of artiodactyls is cut with a sharp disinfected knife, and the end is cauterized with an iodine solution. During the first weeks, you need to monitor the condition of this part of the body. If the edges of the wound fester or do not dry out for a long time, you should contact your veterinarian.
3. Piglets are placed under the sow. If the farrowing went well, then the female herself will lie on one side to feed the cubs.

For a successful farrowing, the female must weigh more than 60 kg at the time of birth. If the sow does not gain the necessary weight, then she will not have enough strength to endure and give birth to babies.

What should be the weight of healthy newborn pigs

External indicators of healthy piglets after childbirth:

1. In a newborn piglet, weight can range from 2 to 4 kg.
2. The squeal of the baby should be loud and high.
3. The hooves and teeth of healthy babies do not crumble and have the correct shape;
4. The nose of a domestic pig should be round, breathing without wheezing.
5. A newborn pig, depending on the breed, should have a clean, pink or black skin.
6. There is no whitish coating on the mucous membrane.
7. The eyes of the pups should be wide open, with white white without yellowish blotches.
8. The piglet itself gets to its feet in the first hour of life.

Newborn babies should get used to sucking milk from their mother's nipples. Each calf needs to be trained to one nipple to prevent breast mastitis.

Also, the lactation process in pigs is fast: it takes no more than 1 minute, so a piglet, whose nipple was captured by a brother by mistake, may remain hungry.

Conditions for keeping newborn piglets

Piglets up to one week of age should be kept in a clean pen with fitted lamps for additional heating. The room temperature should not be lower than 32 ° C. The heating system must be made so that the sleeping area is the warmest point in the pen. It is also important for the nutrition of babies, since the female prefers to pack in the warmest place.

A corral for offspring must be built in advance so that everything is ready at the time of birth. Young animals should be harvested regularly, otherwise the risk of infection of babies with various diseases increases. The litter on the floor should be made from natural ingredients to avoid an allergic reaction. To do this, use good quality dry herb.

After giving birth, you need to take care of the female. Farrowing often becomes the cause of many diseases, since at this moment the pig is most vulnerable to infectious diseases. In the first hours after childbirth, the animal's heart is forced to distribute blood in a different way, since the uterus is actively contracting. The female should give birth in a disinfected room so that harmful pathogens do not take advantage of the weak state of the cloven-hoofed animal.

The sow should be kept at rest and monitored for a week. If the animal has a decreased appetite, purulent discharge or udder edema, you should contact your veterinarian.

Farrowing leads to severe dehydration of the female, since a lot of fluid is lost along with the amniotic fluid. The prepared pen should contain a trough of clean water. If the sow is not given the right amount of fluid, she may eat the pups. In addition, dehydration of the mother can lead to disruption of the lactation organs.

How to provide your piglets with enough milk

To provide the body of cloven-hoofed animals with moisture, after giving birth, the pig is given 0.5 liters of milk diluted with water. After 6 hours, the pig can drink as much water as it wants.

A common problem faced by farmers is baby teeth. The domestic piglet has 8 canines after birth, which should be trimmed. If this is not done, the baby can injure the mother's nipples. Special pruners are used to trim teeth. To properly trim the canines of cloven-hoofed animals, you should watch training videos or photos from master classes.

One-week-old piglets need to have iron shots in the groin and dock their tails. If the farrowing is successful, the babies are marked with paint to monitor their location during milk feeding.

Preparing to wean the young

Cubs do not tolerate weaning well, so weaning should be done gradually. The diet of suckling pigs almost entirely consists of milk, however, for the earliest weaning in the first week, additional products should be introduced:

1. On the third day, babies should be given boiled water.
2. From the fifth day of life, artiodactyls can be given cow's milk in small doses.
3. After the first week, piglets are fed a viscous food: oatmeal in milk.
4. At 10 days, pigs should pour finely cut hay into a small trough.
5. After 2 weeks, babies can eat succulent food and root crops.

If the farrowing was unsuccessful and the sow died during childbirth, the litter is transferred to artificial feeding. To do this, before giving birth, the female should be milked in order to develop the udder. Milk colostrum is stored in a separate container. This product can be fed to piglets in the first days of life.

In the following days, cow's milk is used as a substitute. If there are nursing queens in the barn, you can try placing the babies under them. In case of refusal, the milk of other sows is suitable for artificial feeding. The same is done if the female does not admit the cubs to her.

Weaning piglets from a sow

If the breeder has taken the preparatory steps, weaning will be painless for the pups and mother. The process consists of two important stages:

1. The sow is put on a diet to reduce milk production and nutritional value.
2. The female is transferred to another pen and provided to the piglets for feeding only. The number of meals per day during weaning is reduced from 6 times to 4.

Piglet care after weaning

Raising artiodactyls after weaning has its own characteristics. Cubs are fed 5 times a day, and the food must be of high quality.

Babies are very sensitive to gastrointestinal diseases, and stale food can cause illness. To make the piglets stronger, they are given a prestarter. This feed mixture strengthens the immune system. Sedimin is considered a good drug for weaning. It improves the microflora of the stomach and is considered the best among other drugs.

Monthly piglets can be fed for slaughter. By 4 months, strong cubs should weigh 45 kg. Culling and weak individuals go to fattening. Healthy and robust piglets are left for breeding.

The weaning diet should look like this:

1. Concentrates - 70%.
2. Protein food - 5%.
3. Hay, grass and grass flour - 25%.

Up to 3 months, the piglets are steamed dry hay and cereals. If dry food is not heat treated, it can damage the stomach lining of the young. In the wild, small amphibians and rodents are included in the diet of wild boars.

Small hares, puppies and kittens can become prey of a pig, therefore, food of animal origin must be present in the diet. Babies can be given some eggs and a trough with fermented milk products to improve digestion. Limit the consumption of potatoes or bread.

Weaning Vietnamese piglets

These small lop-eared pigs have their own weaning skills. Until the first month, they are kept together with the sow and the cubs feed exclusively on milk. During the 5th week, they begin to be transferred to other types of food.

If the piglets are weaned earlier, the sow may experience swelling of the udder, and the offspring will turn out to be weak. In order not to cause stress to the young and mother, the animals are prepared for 4 days, after which communication is minimized. Completely Vietnamese piglets are weaned from the female at 8 weeks after birth. Thanks to this weaning process, babies grow strong and the nutritional value of meat increases.

Baby hair care

Some breeds of piglets differ from each other with a thick hairline, which tends to shed. Among the various species of animals, the Hungarian brazier breed stands out. Piglets of this species are born striped, but by 3 months they are already beginning to be covered with curly dense wool.

The animal molts twice a year. During this period, you need to comb out the young, since the old wool tends to stray into dense formations. They become a breeding ground for external parasitic insects. If you cannot choose the old wool, then you should cut the tangles.

A change of hairline is observed in all artiodactyls, including dwarf breeds.During the period of the first molt, it is advisable to water the piglets with vitamin supplements with a high calcium content, otherwise the new wool may grow poorly.

Separately, it is worth noting the breed of Bearded pigs. These cute animals are bred in South Asia and have a thick hairline above the stigma, reminiscent of a mustache. This coat begins to grow by about 2-3 months of life of Chinese piglets. When divorcing this breed, the growth of bristles on the animal's face should be monitored. However, Chinese and Mongolian breeders do not recommend removing this hairline, since this species of artiodactyls has very sensitive skin, and as a result, snout inflammation can begin.

Due to its appearance, the image of the Bearded Pig is often used in culture and even has relation to Eastern religion.

Common diseases among young animals

Piglet immunity depends on the breed and blood purity. Often a piglet from mixed parents has better health than a purebred young. However, hybrids, like broiler breeds, are bred for slaughter, since such artiodactyls lose some of their positive characteristics and are not suitable for divorce.

There are a number of diseases that can affect any piglet, regardless of breed. Among them stand out:

1. Stomatitis.
2. Avitaminosis.
3. Paratyphoid.
4. Ascariasis;
5. Colibacillosis.
6. Pneumonia.
7. Prolapse.
8. Hernia.

Stomatitis

The symptoms of stomatitis are poor appetite and mucous discharge from the mouth. To eliminate this disease, a solution of potassium permanganate or soda is used. You should also change the diet of piglets, since the cause of stomatitis may be poor quality feed.

Avitaminosis

Avitaminosis is observed in pups at the time of birth, if during pregnancy the female did not receive the entire complex of vitamins and minerals. The lack of vitamins in the body is very dangerous for young animals, as it leads to growth arrest and bone deformation. To avoid this, the piglets are given special premixes that contain the necessary complex of nutrients. Newborn piglets can be pierced with borgluconate vaccine or additionally soldered with Vitam by mixing it with sow's milk. It is not necessary to use only premixes in the diet, the level of vitamins can be raised by such supplements:

1. Oilcake.
2. Fish fat.
3. A piece of chalk.
4. Bone, meat and grass meal.

Paratyphoid

Paratyphoid fever is a bacterial disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract. The causes of the disease can be violations of sanitary standards for keeping young animals or contact with animal carriers. Cubs infected with paratyphoid fever lie in a characteristic pose: stretching the hind limbs and bending the front ones under the ribcage. Other symptoms include blueness of the ears and shortness of breath.

Home treatment includes the use of chloramphenicol and tetracycline. Recovered individuals acquire immunity, which protects them from relapse.

Helminthic invasion

Worms are a common disease among young animals, as they can be transmitted from the sow during milk feeding. Roundworms pose a greater danger to the weak body of suckling pigs than to adults, therefore, home treatment should be carried out at the first symptoms. Infected individuals do not eat well, cough, lose weight, and itch on the corral.

To remove worms and cysts, young animals are given injections of ivermek and nilverm. These preparations are suitable for suckling babies. The period of treatment lasts depending on how long it takes for the parasites to escape. A decoction of garlic and tansy flowers can be used as antiglust prophylaxis.

Colibacillosis

Colibacillosis is an acute infectious disease that manifests itself as diarrhea in piglets. The feces of animals become liquid. Feces may contain black blotches of clotted blood.

The cause of the disease is bacteria that can be transmitted through the mother's milk or due to poor sanitary conditions. The antibiotic neomycin is used for treatment.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia often affects piglets immediately after farrowing if air circulation is impaired in the stable. The disease is characterized by inflamed lungs and airways.

You can treat babies at home with the help of the medicine Bicillin. This remedy is determined by specialists as the best drug for the treatment of suckling pigs.

Prolapse

Prolapse is the prolapse of the rectum from the anus in young animals. Usually this problem is inherent in rearing piglets. The reason for this may be an improper diet or cramps. It often happens that part of the prolapsed intestine hangs outside the sphincter and can be gnawed by other pigs. If it was not possible to carry out surgical intervention in time, the crippled animal is sent for slaughter.

Hernia

An unsuccessful farrowing or a difficult pregnancy can cause a pathology such as a hernia. There are many forms of this disease, but if the cub has a hernia, it is fed to a weight of 30 kg and sent to slaughter. These piglets grow more slowly, stand poorly and are often susceptible to other diseases, and the price of their meat is relatively low due to poor taste. Keeping such individuals on the farm for a long time is unprofitable for livestock breeders.