What are the key points for raising spring piglets?

Sows are mated and conceive in October to November, and the piglets born in February to March of the following year are called spring piglets, also known in some places as twelfth-month piglets. Choosing to raise spring piglets can bring relatively good economic returns. This is because sows have a high conception rate when mated in October to November, the outside temperature is relatively low in late pregnancy, the sows have a strong appetite, and the embryos can obtain rich nutrition, so the piglets born are heavy and have a high survival rate. In addition, because the sows have a strong appetite, they produce plenty of milk of good quality, the piglets develop robustly, have a heavy weaning weight, and accordingly gain weight quickly, with a relatively high marketable rate.

However, the outside world is relatively cold in spring, the temperature inside the pig house is relatively low, and on top of that the piglets have their feed changed after weaning, are moved to a different rearing site, and face drastic environmental changes. If feeding and management are poor, not only will good returns not be obtained, but the pigs will actually lose condition, directly affecting the fattening rate and feed conversion rate.

So how do you raise spring piglets well?

First, prepare the pen. Repair the pen before the piglets enter it, so that it does not leak rain from above and does not accumulate water below. Clean out all the original manure and bedding straw in the pen, and the swept-up waste should be carried to a spot far from the pen and piled up to ferment. Then use a 20% quicklime solution to whitewash and disinfect the walls, railings, feed troughs, floor and other places.

Second, do a good job of training the piglets and keep the pig pen clean and hygienic. After the piglets enter the pen, train them to urinate and defecate in one fixed place; this can keep the pen floor and the pigs' bodies dry and clean at all times, promote their growth and reduce disease. The training method is: before the pigs enter, clean and wash the pen thoroughly; after the water dries, put some manure in the corner designated for urination and defecation and splash some water on it, spread some accumulated straw in the lying area, put some feed in the feeding area, and then shut the piglets inside. After entering the pen, when the piglets smell the different odors, they will automatically run to the designated corner to urinate and defecate. If a small number of pigs defecate randomly, drive them away as soon as you notice, and sweep up any manure at once, paying even more attention after feeding and when getting up early in the morning; after a few days the pigs will form the habit.

Third, strengthen feeding and management. The piglets purchased have all eaten a full meal of fine, rich feed and have also been through a struggle, so their physical condition is relatively poor and their digestive systems often develop problems. To help the pigs return to normal promptly, on the day the pigs are bought, after the pigs have entered the pen and rested for half an hour, spray an appropriate amount of baijiu on their bodies and rub them with straw, so as to soothe their qi and blood and help them recover from fatigue. Then feed them some warm rice-washing water mixed with an appropriate amount of mirabilite, and then feed some tender green vegetables to prevent indigestion. On the second day, after the pigs have excreted what has accumulated in their bodies, you can feed an appropriate amount of malt, distiller's yeast and the like to aid digestion, and can also feed more concentrate to supplement nutrition and strengthen the constitution. The feed should be changed gradually and its quality should remain stable. In the first month, make it as similar as possible to the pre-weaning feed; do not make sudden changes. The protein level in the daily ration should be kept at around 15% to 16%. If conditions permit, you can also appropriately supplement some raw-juice feeds such as soybean milk and starch slurry, which are very good for growth and development. After one month, change to feeder-pig feed. The number of feedings should go from many to few; in the first half month the number of feedings should be greater and the intervals should not be too long, and a nighttime feeding should also be given in the evening. As the days of age increase, the number of feedings can gradually be reduced; after one month, feeding 3 times a day is enough.

Fourth, strengthen the prevention and control of epidemic diseases. Pig epidemics are the great enemy of the @#@227@#@ industry, and strictly controlling the occurrence of epidemics is the key to ensuring that pig farming thrives. According to the current conditions in rural areas, first you must strictly control the pig-entry stage, carefully check health status, and do not buy sick pigs. Newly bought pigs must be raised in isolation from the pigs already in the pen for more than half a month before they can be merged into the pen. Timely inject vaccines (bacterins) for swine fever, swine erysipelas, swine pasteurellosis, swine streptococcosis and other diseases. Farmers with the conditions should best practice self-breeding and self-raising. At the same time, raising pigs in pens must be practiced, swill fed to pigs must be boiled, and you should not buy and eat pork from diseased or dead pigs at the market, so as to prevent the spread of epidemics. Second, carry out regular deworming; from the time the piglets enter the pen to the time the fattening pigs leave the pen, preventive deworming should be carried out regularly 2 to 3 times. There are many drugs for expelling internal parasites from pigs; commonly used ones include levamisole hydrochloride tablets, administered at a dose of 20 to 30 mg per kg of body weight; veterinary refined trichlorfon can also be used, mixed into a small amount of pig feed and fed at a dose of 0.1 g per kg of body weight.