What Is a Nursery Pig? An Analysis of Why They Are Difficult to Raise and Daily Feeding Methods
Nursery pigs are called the “most difficult pigs to raise” in history, so what exactly is a nursery pig? Why are they difficult to raise? How should they be fed daily to grow up healthily? Don't worry, below we will provide a detailed explanation for everyone.
1. What is a nursery pig?
Nursery pigs are commonly known as weaned piglets. Because of their rapid growth and development and high susceptibility to diseases, they require careful feeding.
2. What is early isolation weaning of nursery pigs?
The so-called early isolation weaning is a weaning method in which piglets are completely isolated from the sow and all other pigs at 2-3 weeks after birth when their body weight reaches 4.5 kg or more. Its focus is on early weaning time and isolation of piglets from other pigs.
3. Why are nursery pigs difficult to raise?
The feeding and management level of weaned piglets is an important link in ensuring the profitability of large-scale pig farms. During the nursery stage, the maternal antibody level of piglets and their own immune level are relatively low. In addition, stress from group transfer, environment, and feed changes of varying degrees brings certain difficulties to the feeding and management of weaned piglets. At this stage, scientific feeding and management techniques should be adopted according to the physiological characteristics of piglets to ensure their normal growth and development.
4. How should nursery pigs be fed daily to grow up healthily?
1. Transition during group transfer
The farrowing house has much better environmental conditions than the nursery house. After weaning, piglets are transferred from the superior environment of the farrowing house to the slightly poorer environment of the nursery house. If the environmental transition is unsuccessful, it can easily cause infections such as Haemophilus parasuis, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, and influenza in piglets after weaning.
In the late lactation period, the farrowing house temperature is required to reach 25°C. After weaning, because there is no creep box and no protection from the sow, the nursery house temperature is required to reach 27°C, then decrease by 1°C-2°C each week until it drops to 22°C.
Before group transfer, check whether the insulation equipment, doors, and windows of the nursery house are intact without drafts, and whether the floor is clean and dry.
After cleaning, emptying, and drying, disinfect carefully and repeatedly. Acidifiers can be added to the water tank, and the water output of each faucet should be checked until clean cool water flows out of the faucet. This not only checks whether the drinkers are discharging water normally, but also thoroughly cleans the bacteria and scale in the drinking water pipes, establishing the first line of defense for piglet health.
After piglets are transferred into the house, while ensuring the temperature inside, fans can be turned on for ventilation, or windows can be opened for air exchange. The window height should be consistent with the height of the nursery pen railing. The size of the window opening can be determined according to the size of the pigs and the day's temperature, avoiding cold wind blowing directly over the piglets. It is not recommended to open doors for ventilation, because the convective air from an open door is a cross-draft, which will quickly pass cold air from the bottom of the slatted floor of the nursery pen and come into direct physical contact with the piglets, very easily causing diarrhea in piglets.
The main purpose of warming in the nursery house is floor heating. An ambient temperature of 20°C-25°C is sufficient. A large warming box can also be used to save energy costs.
To prevent piglet stress caused by environmental changes, after weaning the sow should be removed from the farrowing crate, and the piglets should still be fed in the farrowing crate for 7-10 days. Combined with the transition of feed type and feeding method, this allows piglets to successfully pass the weaning stage.
2. Creep feeding and feeding instruction
Before weaning, piglets obtain nutrition from easily digestible sow's milk. After weaning, they switch to solid feed that is not easily digested. When solid feed enters the gastrointestinal tract of piglets, it can easily damage the small intestinal villi and weaken intestinal digestive function, affecting the digestion and absorption of feed and, in severe cases, causing diarrhea. Therefore, management during the weaning transition period should be strengthened.
Feed transition
Before weaning, piglets mainly drink milk, with creep feed as a supplement. When piglets are just weaned, the feed should not be changed. Continuing to feed the starter feed is beneficial for feed intake without losing body condition, and can also prevent the occurrence of piglet edema disease. After 7 days, feed transition can be carried out.
Small amounts and frequent feeding
During creep feeding, small amounts and frequent feeding are required, adding creep feed 5-6 times per day. After weaning, piglets completely consume creep feed, but it still needs to be mainly supplied in limited amounts 5-6 times as before weaning, supplemented with a small amount of free-choice feed. After 3 consecutive days, gradually reduce the amount fed each time and increase the amount of free-choice feed.
It is recommended that this transition-period feeding method last for one week, which is beneficial for protecting the spleen and stomach function of piglets and ensuring the growth of later finishing pigs. At this time, piglets are very likely to suffer damage to spleen and stomach function and diarrhea due to excessive feed intake.
Keep a work log
Record the feed intake and water intake of piglets well, and adjust the feeding plan in a timely manner according to the characteristics of different growth stages. The nursery house should ensure sufficient, clean, and fresh drinking water.
Small amounts and multiple meals
In summer with high temperature and high humidity, feed stays fresh for a shorter time and is prone to mold and spoilage. Sufficient clean and fresh feed should be prepared. Small amounts and multiple meals are recommended, preferably 4-5 meals per day.
Keep the trough clean and hygienic
It must be cleaned once every day with no feed residue left. If the feeding trough is not cleaned properly, or if the trough design is unreasonable and residual feed remains, piglets can easily eat moldy feed, causing diarrhea, coughing, fever, and so on.
Provide a complete nutritional daily ration
Appropriately increase the energy concentration of the diet. After weaning, piglets will experience temporary weaning stress, causing decreased appetite, indigestion, and so on, which may affect growth due to insufficient energy intake from the diet. Therefore, the energy concentration of the diet should be appropriately increased. Coconut oil, soybean oil, and so on can be added to the diet to meet the energy needs of piglets.
Appropriately reduce the protein level of the diet
This can reduce protein putrefaction in the intestinal tract and reduce digestive tract diseases. In the diet of early-weaned piglets, attention should be paid to appropriately reducing the protein level to eliminate the adverse effects of protein on the overall diet composition. Plant protein sources can be processed by extrusion, concentration, and so on to remove or reduce anti-nutritional factors.
Appropriately supplement selenium and vitamin E
This can enhance the immunity of piglets, reduce the mortality of weaned piglets, prevent the occurrence of piglet edema disease and liver malnutrition, and alleviate weaning stress in piglets.
3. Prevent stress
After weaning, piglets will face environmental stress, psychological stress, and nutritional stress. These stresses will lead to a decline in the health status of piglets, weakened resistance, causing post-weaning diarrhea, slow growth, or a low rearing rate. Management should be strengthened to avoid the occurrence of stress.
Piglets are transferred from a familiar environment to an unfamiliar one, and in addition, the mutual biting and fighting caused by weaning and litter mixing can cause environmental stress. At this time, the thermoregulatory function of piglets is still imperfect, which can easily lead to decreased resistance. At the same time, because weaning separates them from the familiar mother and environment, some negative effects will occur, such as anxiety and restlessness, searching everywhere for their mother, and not eating feed.
Piglets go from eating warm liquid sow's milk to eating solid feed, and need an adaptation process. Because sow's milk is comprehensive in nutrition, easy to digest, and suitable in temperature, piglets like to eat feed when breast milk is insufficient before weaning. However, when weaned and separated from the mother, due to environmental and psychological stress, combined with solid feed being incomplete in nutrition, poor in palatability, and not easy to digest, piglets may not eat feed for 1-2 days just after weaning. When hunger becomes unbearable, they may overeat, and coupled with incomplete digestive system function, this easily causes nutritional diarrhea.
In order to reduce the stress of this process, liquid feed or gruel feed can be used. Soak the feed in warm water, then add some dairy products, antimicrobial peptides, enzyme preparations, and glucose to improve the palatability of the feed. As long as piglets can eat feed and feed intake does not decrease but gradually rises, the survival rate can definitely be improved.
4. Daily management
Weaned piglets are called the “most difficult pigs to raise” by farmers. At this time, piglets have lost the protection of maternal antibodies while their own immune system has not yet been established, and they face various stresses after weaning. Therefore, they are susceptible to various respiratory and digestive tract diseases. To ensure that nursery piglets all survive and are strong, and to ensure breeding benefits, daily management of piglets should be strengthened.
Weaned piglets must implement “all in, all out.” Under the same nutritional and environmental conditions, raised on elevated beds compared with raised on the ground, the average daily gain increases by 51 grams, daily feed intake increases by 67 grams, and the survival rate increases by 15%. Where conditions permit, net-bed rearing can be implemented, which can effectively prevent the occurrence and spread of piglet diarrhea.
Weaned piglets can be grouped according to the principle of splitting more rather than fewer, and splitting strong rather than weak. The stocking density should be 0.3-0.4 sq m of pen area per piglet, with no more than 20 pigs per pen. This can reduce biting and fighting among piglets, make management easier, and promote the growth and development of piglets.
Piglets with low body weight are more sensitive to various stresses and are prone to disease outbreaks. They can be grouped according to body weight at weaning. Piglets with lower body weight should be gathered and raised separately, local temperature should be increased, dietary nutrient concentration should be increased, and nutrients such as dairy products, antimicrobial peptides, enzyme preparations, and glucose should be added. Feeding with liquid feed can increase the survival rate of piglets.
Train piglets in “three-point positioning,” that is, training piglets to rest, eat, and drink in fixed places, and excrete within a fixed area and not in the eating area. The training method is to guide piglets to defecate in the excretion area, and to lie down, rest, and eat in fixed places. Generally, positioning can be formed after 3-5 days of training.
5. Disease prevention and control
Piglets undergo various stresses such as long-distance transport, being driven off the vehicle and into pens, and needing to adapt to new pens, new companions, and a new environment, resulting in poor resistance and susceptibility to illness. To reduce losses caused by stress to piglets, precautions should be taken in advance.
Prepare medicines in advance
Some anti-stress drugs need to be prepared in advance, such as vitamin C, dexamethasone, and adrenaline. If long-distance transport stress is too great, multivitamins should be added to the water to resist stress, so as to supplement the body's electrolytes, water, and nutrients.
Formulate a health care plan
Before group transfer, a comprehensive health care plan should be formulated according to local epidemic disease conditions. An appropriate immunization program should be formulated according to comprehensive conditions such as the epidemic situation in each area, the types and nature of the diseases, and the antibody levels of piglets. Preventive medication should be used at key periods.
Gradually increase feed
On the first day of transport, do not rush to feed, as this can easily cause digestive dysfunction. Feed can be gradually increased on the second day. Within one week, the feed fed should preferably be basically the same as the original feed to reduce indigestion and diarrhea.
Prevent diarrhea
For health care, some traditional Chinese medicines for clearing heat and detoxifying and resisting viruses, such as Banqing granules, can be used together with antibiotics such as amoxicillin, tilmicosin, and enrofloxacin. Where conditions permit, probiotics can be appropriately added to promote digestion and absorption and prevent diarrhea.
Reasonable immunization
One week after transfer for immunization, after the piglets' condition is stable, reasonable immunization is needed, combined with the original pig farm's immunization situation. Regardless of whether the original pig farm was immunized against swine fever and pseudorabies, re-immunization is recommended. For other vaccines, continue immunization with reference to the original farm's vaccines. For deworming, after the pig herd is stable and immunization is completed, deworm the whole herd and carry out good hygiene and disinfection to prevent insect eggs or insects from infecting other piglets.