Causes and Solutions for Pregnant Sows Not Eating

The feeding and management of pregnant sows during gestation is very important, and during this period, many farmers will notice one thing: sows may show signs of anorexia. This can seriously affect fetal growth and may even lead to miscarriage, difficult farrowing, and other problems, causing great losses to farmers. So what should we do when pregnant sows won't eat? Let me teach you how to solve it.

1. Causes of pregnant sows not eating feed

There are four main reasons pregnant sows do not eat feed. First, feeding too much concentrated feed causes gastrointestinal discomfort in the sow, leading to anorexia and refusal to eat. Second, the quality of the feed does not meet standards, or the nutritional combination of the feed is unbalanced, leading to indigestion and similar problems. Third, pregnant sows lack exercise during gestation, and farmers protect them excessively, which affects gastrointestinal digestion and leads to poor appetite. Finally, it may be caused by excessively high or low temperatures and excessive stress reactions, which can also affect appetite and cause sows to stop eating feed.

2. Characteristic signs of not eating feed

In fact, pregnant sows do not stop eating feed at the same time, which is to say it is uncertain, and we can only judge whether they have appetite through certain signs. Generally speaking, most sows stop eating feed around 20-50 days of pregnancy or about 1 month before farrowing. At this time, the body temperature of pregnant sows will deviate slightly, they will appear fatigued overall, lack energy, have dry feces or constipation, and may even be irritable, ultimately leading to refusal to eat.

3. Preventive measures

So what we need to do is make preventive preparations during the sow's pregnancy. For example, prepare complete-price feed, which has a balanced nutritional ratio and good palatability, and can also help increase the sow's appetite. Second, we can also appropriately feed some green feed and roughage to ensure balanced nutrition while promoting gastrointestinal digestion. We should also ensure that sows get a certain amount of exercise every day, which can promote digestion and improve the sow's physical condition. Finally, an appropriate amount of Chinese herbal medicine can be mixed into each mu of feed to regulate the gastrointestinal tract. When sows have dry feces or constipation, a mild laxative can be used to help them defecate and clear the gastrointestinal tract.

4. Treatment measures

If sows refuse to eat, then we need to take treatment measures, because the above preventive measures no longer have any effect on the sow. First, we can use stomach-invigorating and digestion-promoting drugs to treat severe anorexia; second, we can feed some edible oil to regulate the gastrointestinal tract, along with a small amount of laxative; third, we can use antibacterial drugs to prevent infection after treatment; finally, when anorexia is very severe, we can also inject glucose solution or other agents used to protect the fetus.

The above is a simple reply based on everyone's questions about what to do when pregnant sows won't eat. I mainly analyzed it from four aspects: the causes of not eating, the signs, prevention, and treatment. You can read it carefully, and I also hope it can help more friends in need.