Key Technical Points for Feeding and Management of Piglets After Restocking

Piglets purchased by pig farmers from the market are not only prone to illness but also prone to death. This is because before the pigs are marketed, many farmers use various means to get the pigs to eat as much as possible; once full, the pigs are immediately caught and put into pig cages (or gunny sacks), and immediately carried on a shoulder pole or transported by vehicle to the live pig market. After entering the market, because there are many pigs and few pens, the piglets are crowded together, colliding with each other. Then, during the transaction, they are weighed, given preventive injections, and afterward carried on a shoulder pole or transported by vehicle to the new farmer's home. The environment, feed, and feeding methods have all changed significantly. Some piglets have even just been weaned, so the pigs are temporarily unable to adapt and are in a state of high stress, which leads to corresponding dysfunction of various body systems and a decline in disease resistance, making the pigs susceptible to induced and secondary diseases such as high fever, constipation, and diarrhea. In addition, pigs from all directions gather in the crowded live pig market, so it is inevitable that diseased pigs and sources of infection are brought in, causing the spread of disease (in severe cold or extreme heat, they are also prone to freezing or heatstroke). Therefore, feeding and management of newly purchased piglets must be strengthened, and corresponding comprehensive preventive measures must be taken to reduce illness or death among the pigs.

Make good preparations before the piglets enter the pen, and thoroughly disinfect the pens and equipment

Before farmers plan to purchase piglets, they should prepare the pens, equipment, and feed. The pens must be thoroughly cleaned, especially pens where disease outbreaks have occurred or diseased pigs have died in the past, which should be disinfected even more thoroughly. For disinfection of pen walls, floors, feeding troughs, and waterers, a 2%-3% caustic soda solution, or a 10%-20% bleaching powder solution, or 10%-20% lime milk, or a 3%-5% cresol soap solution, or a 2%-4% formalin solution may be selected for spray disinfection; tools such as shovels and brooms can be rinsed clean with water and then placed in sunlight for disinfection by sun exposure.

Pig farming should use self-breeding and self-raising as much as possible to reduce the introduction of disease

If pig farms and pig farmers have no basic sow herd and rely on purchasing pig sources from the market, then without strict quarantine and isolated feeding measures, it is often unavoidable that diseased pigs will be purchased and diseases will be introduced. Therefore, adhering to self-breeding and self-raising is a basic measure to prevent the introduction of disease. Pig farming practice in various places has proven that pig farms and pig farmers who adhere to self-breeding and self-raising and have a sound epidemic prevention system rarely or never experience infectious diseases. Pig farmers (especially pig farms) should try to establish a basic sow herd and adhere to self-breeding and self-raising. It is best for farmers to buy pigs from disease-free pig farms or local healthy pig herds, and as far as possible not to buy pigs from the market, so as to reduce the introduction of disease and avoid unnecessary stress responses in the pig herd.

After piglets enter the pen, feeding should proceed step by step, and comprehensive measures should be taken to prevent disease outbreaks

For newly purchased piglets, put them in the pen and let them move freely to become familiar with the new environment. Keep clean drinking water available in the pen at all times. For the first week, it is best to provide 0.1% potassium permanganate water. When they begin looking for food, first feed an appropriate amount of green, juicy feed, and later feed a small amount of complete feed. Generally, it is suitable for the pigs to eat until 70-80% full. After the pigs adapt to the new feeding method, allow them to eat freely. For farmers raising pigs with self-mixed feed, an appropriate amount of feed additives or antibiotic drugs should be added to enhance the pigs' gastrointestinal adaptability, and an appropriate amount of yeast or rhubarb sodium bicarbonate tablets may be added to the feed. After about 10 days of feeding and observation, if the pigs eat and drink normally, they can be vaccinated against swine fever, swine erysipelas, swine pasteurellosis, piglet paratyphoid, and other diseases. After 10-20 days of isolation and observation, if no disease occurs, then after deworming and castration, they can be mixed and raised with other pig herds and gradually transferred to the normal fattening stage of feeding.