How do runt pigs form? Causes and prevention and control methods
Runt pigs refer to a condition in piglets caused by congenital or acquired factors that makes them never grow up; no matter how they are fed, they simply do not put on flesh. This often occurs on every farm and brings economic losses to the farm. So what causes it? How should it be prevented and controlled? Let's take a look at the details.
1. Causes
According to its triggering causes, it can be roughly divided into congenital and acquired. The congenital type is mainly caused by inbreeding, breeding too early, or boars and sows being old and frail, which leads to piglets being born small in size and slow in development and other congenital deficiencies, making them highly prone to forming the fetal runt phenomenon. There are many acquired causes: insufficient milk production of the sow after farrowing, causing piglets to take in insufficient milk, which stunts growth and causes milk runt; piglets repeatedly suffering from diseases, or parasitic diseases causing massive nutrient consumption, affecting feeding, and resulting in malnutrition, which causes disease runt; and improper rearing, with large and small pigs competing for feed, causing piglets to be unable to get feed, which causes feed runt. Among these, disease runt and feed runt are the main causes of acquired runt pigs.
2. Symptoms
Runt pigs mainly occur in piglets from just after birth to around 20 kg. The specific signs are listlessness, rough and messy hair, pale mucous membranes, unsteady walking, often lying on the ground, a big head, a round belly, and a pointed rump, with a weak and thin body. The most obvious characteristic is that they only eat but do not grow, with growth slow or stagnant. According to statistics, runt pigs gain no more than 50 grams per day, and some piglets still weigh around 20 kg after being raised for half a year, causing serious economic impact for farmers.
3. Prevention and control methods
Because the causes of runt pigs differ, targeted prevention and control should be carried out according to the different causes. For congenital causes, inbreeding should be avoided, and breeding should not be carried out too early. Wait until the breeding pigs reach the appropriate breeding period to improve the quality of offspring and reduce the runt pig phenomenon. Old and frail breeding pigs should be culled in time and replaced with new breeding pigs with strong vitality.
Milk runt: strengthen feeding management during the sow's gestation and lactation periods, ensure the supply of protein, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, so there is sufficient nutrition for milk production and piglets can grow and develop well during suckling.
Disease runt: pay attention to the hygiene of the rearing environment, clean and disinfect in time, prevent infection by pathogens and disease, and handle diseases promptly once discovered to prevent them from continuing to harm piglets.
Feed runt: carry out reasonable group rearing. After piglets are weaned and can feed freely, piglets should be raised separately from other larger pigs to avoid competition for feed and prevent piglets from being unable to get feed.
The above is all the content on the causes of runt pigs and prevention and control methods. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more about pig farming knowledge, please stay tuned to this site.