How much does a piglet cost per head at present? A detailed explanation of selection and feeding precautions

Piglets, also called small pigs, suckling pigs, or “nursery piglets” suckling pigs, refer to pigs from newborn all the way up to about 60 kg.So how much does a piglet cost per head at present? How do you select them? What should be noted in feeding? From a pig farm in Changsha, we learned that prices differ by breed and size, at 80-150 yuan/head. At the livestock trading market in Duge Township, Huidong County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan, the piglet price is 30.0 yuan/kg.

How do you select piglets?

To buy healthy piglets that grow fast, you need to grasp the following selection principles: look at the mouth shape, look at the eyes, look at the ears and nose, look at the neck, look at the torso, look at the tail, look at the teats, look at the limbs, look at the skin and coat, look at the body weight, look at the manure, and look at the spirit.

1. Mouth shape: The mouth should be short and round, large and even, with a deep mouth cleft, especially the lower jaw should be thin. Piglets whose lower jaw and upper jaw are level and neat eat a lot, are not picky, are easy to raise, and grow fast.

2. Eyes: Piglets with short eyelashes and bright, spirited eyes are healthy and lively, grow well, and the vast majority are disease-free.

3. Ears and nose: The nostrils should be large and proportionate to the mouth, the ears large and thin, the ear base thick and hard, and piglets with a wide distance between the two ears can eat and will grow.

4. Neck: Neither thick nor thin, and of a certain length; sows may have a slightly longer one, boars a suitably shorter one, and the neck of fattening pigs should not be too thick.

5. Torso: The shoulders and back should be broad. The piglet's front shoulders are high, the back and chest are broad and well developed, and the back is flat, straight, and long.

6. Tail: Some people say, “A tail like a nail, a jin of gain a day.” Piglets with a thick tail base, a red tail tip, and thin tail skin, looking like the character “ding,” not only grow fast but are also gentle in temperament.

7. Teats: The teats should be obvious and spaced apart, no fewer than 6 pairs. It is best if they are evenly arranged in a crossed pattern, sparse in front and dense behind.

8. Limbs: The four legs should be strong, round, straight, thick, and long, the thigh muscles full, the ratio of body length to body height moderate, the skeleton large, and growth fast.

9. Skin and coat: The skin should be thin, rosy, and clean, with the hair between the ribs hanging downward and the coat neat. Piglets with sparse, smooth, and glossy hair have a good constitution and grow fast. Pigs with rough skin, messy hair, and a pale, lusterless appearance are mostly sick pigs or runt pigs.

10. Body weight: Among piglets from the same litter weaned together, the heavier ones generally gain weight faster during fattening, so piglets with a larger body weight should be selected.

11. Manure: If the manure is passed and lands in strips or round shapes, smooth and loose, the piglet is healthy; the normal color of urine is pale yellow.

12. Spirit: Healthy piglets are full of energy, stand naturally, and walk steadily. If you lift a pig's hind legs and the pig does not squeal or squeals only softly, it shows that its temperament is not irritable, it is not sensitive to external reactions, and it can adapt to a new environment as quickly as possible.

What should be noted in feeding piglets?

1. Avoid salt: Salt can reduce the efficacy of streptomycin, and the sodium ions in salt can cause water retention in the bodies of livestock and poultry, leading to edema. Therefore, when treating nephritis and using streptomycin, salt should be limited or stopped. In addition, salt can also speed up the excretion of bromide preparations, so when using bromide preparations to treat excitatory diseases in livestock and poultry, the amount of salt fed should also be reduced.

2. Avoid bran: Bran contains a large amount of phosphorus and a small amount of calcium. When treating cartilage disease, urinary tract stones, intestinal stones, and rickets in livestock and poultry, bran should be prohibited. Otherwise, the condition will worsen.

3. Avoid additives: Feed additives mostly contain various minerals such as bone meal, which can reduce the efficacy of oxytetracycline and tetracycline. Therefore, when giving the above antibiotics to livestock and poultry, they should be prohibited.