Feeding and Management Techniques for Sows During Farrowing and Lactation
(1) Advantages of Farrowing on Crates Farrowing on crates is a new technology that has emerged in intensive pig farms. It has the advantages of being convenient to work with, dry, hygienic, and preventing trampling and crushing. Compared with ground-level farrowing pens, farrowing on crates means installing the sow farrowing room as crates with creep rails, reducing piglet deaths from crushing and trampling; the stockperson can easily keep the crate free of accumulated manure, keeping the piglets separated from the ground and manure so that they do not suffer or suffer less from intestinal diseases, improving piglet survival rate; it facilitates supplemental feeding and improves piglet uniformity. Generally, farrowing on crates produces 1-2 more live piglets per litter than farrowing on the ground.
Pictured: sow
(2) Feeding and Management of Farrowing Sows The feeding of farrowing sows can be divided into three stages: the perinatal period, the peak lactation period, and the weaning preparation period.
1. Perinatal period: The perinatal period is divided into the farrowing preparation period (one week before farrowing) and early lactation (one week after farrowing). The purpose of this period is to ensure smooth farrowing of the sow and to prevent the occurrence of agalactia syndrome (MMA). ① Feed should be gradually reduced 4 days before farrowing, but sows with poor body condition and no obvious udder swelling before farrowing should not have their feed reduced. ② Do not rush to feed on the first day after farrowing, because at this time the sow sow is exhausted from farrowing and has very poor digestive function; if she eats too much it easily causes indigestion and anorexia, so at this time the sow should be allowed to rest quietly, and it is best to feed wheat bran with light salt water. ③ On the second day after farrowing, feed 1-1.5 kg of feed, then according to the sow's body condition, milk yield, appetite and piglet growth and development, increase the daily feed amount by 0.25-0.5 kg.
2. Peak lactation period (from 7 days after farrowing to 3 days before weaning): The purposes in this period are: first, to make the sow's lactation sufficient and ensure the piglets get enough milk to grow healthily; second, to control excessive weight loss of the sow during lactation so that the sow comes into estrus and mates promptly after weaning. Basically, from one week after farrowing the sow can be allowed to eat freely. The sow's daily feed amount is based on 2.5 kg, with an increase of 0.25-0.3 kg feed for each piglet she nurses, adjusting the feeding according to body condition, lactation status, and piglet growth and health. Before weaning, the sow should be kept at a moderate body condition of 3 points of fatness. But in hot summers, sows often have reduced feed intake, causing insufficient milk, so the sow's energy supply should be increased in summer. There are two ways to increase the sow's energy supply:
One method is to increase feed intake by feeding in the morning and evening when the weather is cooler and adding an extra meal at night; cooling the sow, using drip cooling can clearly increase feed intake, or using water curtain cooling, adding fans or exhaust fans and other measures; replacing dry powder feed with water-mixed feed; adding baking soda to the feed. Another method is to add 2%-4% fat to the diet.
3. Weaning preparation period (from 3 days before weaning to weaning): The purpose of this period is to gradually reduce the sow's lactation, which helps train the piglets to eat feed and prevents sow mastitis. Sows in good body condition should have their feed appropriately reduced to 3 kg 3 days before weaning, but those in poor body condition should not have their feed reduced.
4. Provide the sow with enough clean drinking water: for every 1 kg of feed the sow eats, 3-5 liters of water need to be supplied; during peak lactation the daily feed intake reaches 5-7 kg, and the daily water intake generally reaches 15-25 liters, and can be as high as 28 liters in summer, only then can her lactation needs be met. This requires the automatic drinker's water output to reach 1.5 liters/minute. Two hours after each feeding, the lactating sow needs to be driven up to let her drink water, and at the same time the water pipes should be kept from being exposed to sunlight.