Detailed Explanation of Key Points in the Feeding and Management Technology for Suckling Piglets

The feeding and management methods for suckling piglets in winter and spring mainly include preventing cold, preventing crushing, preventing disease, iron supplementation, feed supplementation and growth promotion. Below we will explain these issues in detail.

Preventing cold

Piglets are most afraid of cold, and too low a temperature can easily cause death. A specially made insulated box can be used to keep the temperature inside the box no lower than 35°C.

Preventing crushing

Strengthen care, set up piglet protection rails, and prevent the sow from crushing the piglets to death. If a piglet is found to be crushed, it should be helped out in time, but the sow must not be driven away or beaten, to prevent greater chaos.

Preventing disease

Suckling piglets are prone to many diarrheal diseases such as yellow scour, white scour, transmissible gastroenteritis and epidemic diarrhea. Sows should be injected with the corresponding vaccines in advance for prevention. Drugs can also be administered at the appropriate time, such as mequindox, lileqing, lincomycin, tylosin, oxytetracycline, etc.

Iron supplementation

Suckling piglets are most prone to iron deficiency anemia, so iron should be supplemented 2 to 3 days after birth. Method: dissolve 2.5 grams of ferrous sulfate and 1 gram of copper sulfate in 1 kilogram of water, put it into a feeding bottle and feed it to the piglets, or drip it on the sow's teats for the piglets to suckle.

Feed supplementation

Piglets should start being fed 10 days after birth, ensuring that by 20 days of age they can freely eat a complete daily ration. Roasted corn kernels can be used first to attract them to eat, gradually increasing the type and amount of feed.

Promoting growth

To promote the growth of piglets, feed with good palatability, complete nutrition and high digestibility should be provided. It is best to use cooked feed first, such as peanut cake, cooked sweet potato and pumpkin, etc. In some places, feed such as goat milk, millet porridge, and ground peanut and soybean slurry with boiled green vegetables is used in combination to raise suckling piglets, and the survival rate is especially high.