Piglet malnutrition also makes them prone to anemia

    Nutritional anemia in piglets is a disease in which the hematopoietic system is disrupted due to a deficiency or lack of certain nutrients in the feed, especially vitamins and minerals, and it mostly occurs in piglets that are poorly managed after weaning.

Its manifestations are: listlessness, unwillingness to move, reduced appetite, malnutrition, weak constitution, rough and dull coat, diarrhea, thin feces, pale mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth, grayish-white ear rims, increased respiration and pulse, but body temperature is not elevated, and the skin feels cold to the touch; in severe cases it can lead to death.

This disease often occurs under the combined action of many causes, such as malnutrition in pregnant sows or long-term lack of succulent feed, protein, vitamins, and minerals, so the piglets born quickly fall into an anemic state; after birth, piglets grow and develop rapidly, their hematopoietic function is vigorous, and their iron requirement is high, while the iron content in sow milk is limited; smaller and weaker piglets in the same litter, which often cannot get enough milk, are also prone to anemia; the pens are mostly cement or wooden boards, and piglets start eating late, so they take in little iron from the outside; due to poor feeding and management of piglets and the influence of the environment, piglets develop diarrhea, functional disorders, and so on, which affect the absorption of trace elements and nutrients; after weaning, piglets are immediately fed relatively coarse feed or are fed a single feed for a long period, and under conditions of long-term unreasonable indoor housing, insufficient exercise, no sunlight, or too short exposure to sunlight, nutritional anemia in piglets is easily caused.

The main prevention and control methods are: strengthen feeding and management, give sows feed containing appropriate protein, minerals, and vitamins, and provide proper exercise and frequent exposure to sunlight; spread some clean iron-containing red clay in the pigpen and let the piglets lick it; drip a mixed solution of 0.25% ferric sulfate and copper sulfate onto the sow's teats and let the piglets ingest it while suckling; after weaning, ensure an iron content of 80 mg/kg in the piglet feed to meet their growth needs; vitamin D colloidal calcium 1-2 ml, one intramuscular injection, once a day, for 3 consecutive days; intramuscular injection of Shenglingxue 1- ml, or intramuscular injection of 0.1% sodium selenite 0.5 ml, once a day, for 5 consecutive days; liver extract injection 0.2-1 ml and 5% glucose solution 1-3 ml, mixed and injected intramuscularly, once a day, for 5-7 consecutive days.