Main Causes and Preventive Measures for Fewer Piglets Born to Sows, Premature Birth, Miscarriage and Stillbirth

Pigs are vertebrates, mammals and livestock; they can mate 5 to 12 months after birth, and the gestation period is about 4 months.So what are the causes of sows giving birth to few piglets? What are the main causes and preventive measures for premature birth, miscarriage and stillbirth?

What are the causes of sows giving birth to few piglets?

1. Breed reasons

Some breeds have low reproductive capacity themselves, resulting in fewer piglets born. Such as: Pietrain, Duroc, etc.

2. Age reasons

The age and parity of pigs affect the number of piglets born, and also affect the number of live piglets born. Sows in their 1st-2nd parity have low reproductive performance, few ovulations and few piglets born; the 3rd-5th parity have the best reproductive performance, with the highest number of piglets born and live piglets born; after the 6th parity, the reproductive performance of sows declines, and the number of piglets born and live piglets born decreases.

3. Feed reasons

Sows are not given nutritious, complete compound feed.

4. Management problems

(1) Gilts are bred at too low a body weight and too young an age, without reaching physical maturity, resulting in fewer piglets born.

(2) Gilts are not restricted-fed, resulting in too heavy and too fat a body weight at breeding, reducing the number of piglets born.

(3) Gilts and weaned sows should be given short-term flushing 4-5 days before breeding, fed high-quality complete feed with an increased feeding amount, to increase the number of ovulations.

(4) Unreasonable feeding amounts during gestation.

5. Other reasons

Unreasonable vaccination timing and diseases also affect the number of piglets born to sows.

What are the main causes and preventive measures for premature birth, miscarriage and stillbirth in sows?

The occurrence of premature birth, miscarriage and stillbirth in sows will pose a great threat to pig production, and the causes mainly include the following aspects:

1. Nutritional deficiency, such as too low a nutritional level in the feed and a lack of vitamin E and vitamin A, causing excessive emaciation of the pig and resulting in early embryonic death.

2. Improper feeding and management, such as too high a stocking density, biting and fighting caused by great differences in body weight and size, and too slippery a pigsty floor making slipping and falling easy.

3. Feeding irritating odorous or moldy feed, as well as feeding frozen feed in winter.

4. Certain viral infections, such as parvovirus, Japanese encephalitis, etc.

5. Preventive measures: first identify the cause; if the nutritional level is too low, adjust the feed formula and feeding amount in time to prevent the pig from becoming too thin. The supply of vitamins should be complete and sufficient; when feeding compound multivitamins, supply 1.5 times the normal feeding amount. It is strictly forbidden to feed irritating odorous or moldy feed, and warm water should be used to mix feed in winter. Inject the sow herd with parvovirus and Japanese encephalitis vaccines as required; the injection method is: parvovirus vaccine is injected into gilts and young boars one month before breeding, sows are injected after farrowing or 2 weeks before breeding, and breeding boars are injected once every six months. Japanese encephalitis vaccine is injected into young boars and gilts from the end of April to the beginning of May each year.