How to keep winter piglets warm and protected from the cold?
The suitable temperature for piglet growth is: 34-30°C at 1-3 days of age, 30-28°C at 4-7 days of age, and 25-22°C at 15-30 days of age. Winter temperatures are low, so the following cold-prevention and warmth measures should be taken for piglets:
1. The pen should be prepared for cold prevention and warmth insulation before winter, repairing doors and windows in time and filling in drafty holes and cracks. For open-style farmhouse pigpens, wind-blocking cloth curtains sewn from woven fabric or feed woven bags should be used to cover the positions exposed to the wind, minimizing drafts and preventing north winds and rain from directly penetrating from outside, so as to raise the temperature of the pigpen.
2. When the sow is about to give birth, dedicated staff should be on duty to assist with farrowing. As each piglet is born, it should be delivered one by one, immediately wipe dry the mucus on its body, and place it in a warmth-insulation pen or in a basket with insulating materials such as straw, covered with a hemp sack for warmth. At regular intervals, it should be returned to the sow to nurse, and after nursing, returned to the warm area. Only after 2-3 days should the piglets be allowed to stay by the sow and suckle milk. This avoids piglets being crushed to death when the sow turns over or lies down because the piglets press close to the sow for warmth. If conditions permit, it is best to set up a warmth-insulation pen in the shed, with a 250-watt infrared heat lamp inside for warmth or a heat-insulation mat, allowing piglets to enter and exit freely. This has a better cold-prevention and warmth effect for piglets.
3. Strengthen feed supply, feeding the sow high-quality, easily digestible, sufficient feed so that the sow has ample milk and the piglets eat their fill. In addition, increase supplementary feeding by giving piglets high-quality piglet creep feed and suckling pig feed earlier, so that in addition to breast milk, piglets promptly supplement other nutrients, thereby improving the piglets' digestion and absorption function, increasing disease resistance and cold resistance, and enabling the piglets to grow healthily.
4. Do a good job of epidemic prevention and immunization in a timely manner. For common diseases such as pseudorabies, colibacillosis, swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease, epidemic diarrhea, and transmissible gastroenteritis, immunization injections should be carried out in a timely manner according to the immunization program and in the correct dosage, as well as routine disinfection work, spraying disinfectant drugs such as Baidusha, Jundudi, phenols, and hydrogen peroxide twice a week to prevent and reduce the occurrence of diseases. Zang Yanyan