Detailed Explanation of Key Points in Suckling Piglet Rearing and Management

  I. Physiological Characteristics of Suckling Piglets

  After leaving the mother's body, piglets undergo sudden changes in three aspects. ① Inside the mother's body, piglets relied on the maternal placental blood supply for oxygen and for expelling carbon dioxide; after birth, they rely on their own respiratory system and blood circulation system to supply oxygen. ② Inside the mother's body, piglets were in a sterile environment; after birth, they are subject to invasion by various pathogenic microorganisms. ③ Before birth, piglets lived in the constant-temperature environment of the mother's body; after birth, they must rely on the central nervous system for self-regulation. Therefore, in production practice, only by thoroughly understanding the physiological characteristics of newborn piglets can piglet rearing be done well.

  II. Key Points in Rearing and Management of Suckling Piglets

  (I) Getting Enough Colostrum Newborn piglets lack congenital immunity because immune antibodies are large-molecule globulin substances that cannot be directly delivered to the fetus through the maternal blood vessels. Since the maternal blood vessels and the fetal umbilical vessels are separated by 6 to 7 layers of tissue, newborn piglets have no congenital immunity. After piglets consume colostrum, they can obtain immune antibodies from the colostrum.

  (II) Fixing Teats So That Every Piglet Can Nurse Well After piglets are born, manual assistance is needed to fix the teats. According to reports, manual assistance in fixing teats can increase the piglet survival rate by 10%, especially for those with large litters. In fixing teats, generally the piglets with low birth weight are fixed on the first pair of teats, the next-lightest piglets are fixed on the second pair of teats in front, and the heavier piglets are allowed to fix on the rear teats. After several rounds of assisted fixing, the piglets can form a habit and establish their nursing order.

  (III) Body Temperature Regulation of Newborn Piglets Newborn piglets have an incomplete thermoregulatory function and poor stress capacity against cold. To maintain a constant body temperature, animals all need to undergo a series of stress responses under the regulation of the nervous system in order to complete their adaptation process. When piglets are born, although the functions of systems such as the hypothalamus, anterior pituitary, and adrenal cortex that control adaptation to the external environment are fairly well developed, the cerebral cortex is not fully developed. The response capacity of the pituitary and hypothalamus is also poor, and the functional level of the thalamic conduction structure is relatively low, so body temperature cannot be regulated freely. Especially within 3 to 4 days after birth, piglets themselves still cannot make their body temperature change with changes in environmental temperature. Therefore, piglets often die from cold and damp invasion, hence the saying "piglets fear cold." Therefore, temperature is crucial for newborn piglets.

  (IV) Cleanliness and Hygiene To reduce the occurrence of disease, keeping the farrowing house dry and clean is very important. The farrowing house has a high rearing density, and manure and urine often accumulate under the farrowing crates, easily producing harmful gases such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. If not removed in time, these will affect the health of the piglets.

  Generally speaking, the air in the farrowing house should be such that it does not irritate people's noses. While removing harmful gases, even more attention should be paid to drafts and thief winds invading the piglets, especially at the farrowing crates near the doorway in winter, which must not be neglected. In the sow pens of the farrowing house, manure should be removed immediately as much as possible and not left on the farrowing crate, achieving the state where people are present but manure is not. After the manure is removed, wipe dry and disinfect with a mop.

  (V) Experience in Rearing Piglets in the Farrowing House Most diseases of piglets in the farrowing house are caused by poor conditions or the lack of the most basic conditions. Especially in rural areas, because of saving investment, necessary warmth-retention design, cooling design, and ventilation design were not carried out when building pig farms. The result is continuous piglet diarrhea, poor drug effects, high mortality, low weaning weight, and triggering of many infectious diseases. Therefore, improving conditions and preventing disease is the wisest choice.