Provide adequate ventilation at all times. Cooling the sow may be beneficial during hot weather. Researchers at Kansas State University found good results when drip irrigation emitters were mounted so that water dripped onto the neck and shoulder area of sows in farrowing crates. Each nozzle provided 0. Sows that were cooled had lower respiration rates, ate more feed per day, and lost less weight during lactation than sows not cooled.
Sows in this study were on total slotted floors. Knowing When a Sow Will Farrow. The sow must be at the right place at the right time for farrowing, according to the management system used. Recorded breeding dates, calculated farrowing dates, and close observation are essential for proper farrowing management. Signs during late pregnancy help to ensure that sows do not farrow at the wrong place and without proper attention. If farrowing is to take place in a crate or pen, the sow should be in that place no later than the th day of gestation.
This avoids loss of litters farrowed on the short end of a normal gestation period days and permits time for dams to become accustomed to the facility and routine of daily care before onset of birth.
If breeding dates are not recorded, each sow should be carefully observed daily during obvious late pregnancy for enlarged abdomen area, swollen vulva, and filled teats as basis for estimating the farrowing date. Presence of milk usually indicates that farrowing will occur within 24 hours.
The milk may be grayish in its earliest stage but becomes white as time of farrowing approaches. Sows may become restless or nervous, may try to escape the crate, chew on anything available, urinate frequently, and attempt to build a nest or bed. If milk is present, the sow should be prepared and moved immediately to the farrowing facility.
The Birth Process. Duration of labor ranges from 30 minutes to more than 5 hours. Pigs may be born either-head first or rear feet first; either is normal. Fetal membranes or afterbirth may be expelled several times during delivery, but afterbirth generally occurs in a larger amount near the end of farrowing. Occasionally, if a pig is enclosed in the afterbirth material remove it immediately or the pig will quickly suffocate.
The average interval between birth of pigs is approximately 15 minutes but can vary from simultaneous to several hours in individual cases. Use of oxytocin to speed up rate of delivery is helpful if correctly done and if farrowing is proceeding slowly but otherwise normally. A rule of thumb, not universally recommended but widely followed, is to administer oxytocin when the first interval of 30 minutes after birth of the previous pigs has occurred without birth of another pig or without expelling membranes that indicate farrowing is completed.
Oxytocin should not be used until birth of one or more pigs has occurred. Oxytocin should not be used if symptoms, such as straining without delivery, indicate that a pig is blocking the birth canal. Prolonged labor, especially that which is associated with difficult birth, and litters produced by large, older sows, are often accompanied by increased numbers of stillbirths and added death losses in the first few days after farrowing.
Sows that have been overfed during gestation are more subject to prolonged labor, and some individuals seem to be genetically prone to this problem. Proper feeding can prevent overweight, or thin sows and selection and culling may eliminate animals that are prone to difficult births. Assisting Difficult Births. At times, manual assistance is necessary to accomplish delivery but should not be used until obviously needed.
Continued strong labor for an extended period without birth of pigs indicates need for such assistance. Keep some organisms from gaining entrance to the reproductive tract by careful washing of the external genitalia with a mild soap solution, using a clean container for fresh clean water. Difficult births often enhance the occurrence of symptoms of MMA—mastitis or inflammation of the udder metritis or inflammation of the uterus, and agalactia or lack of mil.
To decrease the likelihood of creating complications as a result of manual assistance, an antibacterial solution, such as nitrofurazone is recommended.
It will also serve as a lubricant. Infusion of cc of such solution into the reproductive tract following conclusion of farrowing often helps decrease or prevent infection. Intramuscular injection with an antibiotic can also be helpful. Nervous and Hysterical Sows. Such sows must be attended to prevent loss of newborn pigs; loss can be prevented or minimized by removing pigs to a warm place until farrowing is completed.
The hysteria generally subsides in a few hours. Test the sow by placing only one pig with her and watching her reaction. Nutrition of Newborn Pigs. It is highly important that each pig receive colostrum to provide immediate and temporary protection against common bacterial infections.
Pigs are born into a hostile bacterial environment. Proper nutrition of the sow, including a laxative ration prior to and following farrowing; maintaining proper environmental temperature; and freedom from contagious disease organisms all help to ensure normal milk production. Baby pigs may be unable to nurse because of a hostile sow, a large litter of pigs, small or otherwise weak pigs, death of the sow, or failure of the sow to have milk.
Other ways baby pigs can get antibodies are by being bottle-fed colostrum; they can foster-nurse another newly farrowed sow; or they can nurse a sow whose litter is well beyond the 3 day old stage frequently considered as the upper limit for transferring pigs. Gentle sows with litters as old as three weeks can be used as foster mothers for newborn pigs; it is good insurance to feed some colostrum before transfer to such a sow.
Sow milk replacers are nutritionally adequate for newborn pigs, but they lack antibodies; they do contain antibiotics, which help to control growth of unfavorable bacteria.
Good pig performance and livability has been obtained with excellent commercial products available. Effective use of sow milk replacers requires stringent cleanliness of feeding equipment and housing area for baby pigs to control bacterial growth. Diarrhea is a common hazard for newborn pigs reared artificially in makeshift conditions. Though crates have some use in breeding and gestation, the TEAM System greatly reduces individual confinement time.
Plus, the implementation of the TEAM System and investment in ESF equipment is less expensive than the gestation crate system and requires less space per animal. With the proper system design and management, pen gestation means less stress for your breeding herd. Subscribe to our blog. Visit the Online Store Osborne offers thousands of products; from pig heat mats and accessories feature-loaded automatic pig feeding and weighing equipment. Shop Now!
Click here to Contact Us. This site uses cookies: Find out more. Okay, thanks. Public pressure has led to a voluntary declaration aimed at ending the surgical castration of pigs in the EU by As a first step, beginning in , signatories will ensure that prolonged pain relief is used for surgical castration of pigs. Pigs travel badly and are easily stressed by transport and pre-slaughter handling. They do not have sweat glands and are particularly susceptible to heat stress. Internationally, significant numbers of pigs die each year in transport and in lairage holding pens at slaughterhouses as a result of stress.
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