Comprehensive Measures to Increase the Weaning Weight of Piglets

If weaned at the same age, the greater the individual weaning weight of the piglet, the stronger its constitution, and correspondingly the piglet has strong vitality, gains weight quickly after weaning, has a high feed conversion rate, and the economic benefits obtained are also higher. Therefore, taking comprehensive measures to strive for the maximum individual weight of weaned piglets has become one of the keys to improving the economic benefits of @#@227@#@.

1. Select sows with a long body shape, and carry out crossbreeding of sows to increase the birth weight of piglets. The birth weight of piglets determines, to a certain extent, the strength of the piglets' vitality and their growth rate. Sows with a long body shape have more space for their placenta and fetuses to develop, thereby increasing the birth weight of piglets. When multiple crossbreeding is carried out, the birth weight of the crossbred offspring is also higher than that of purebred offspring.

2. Feed pregnant sows scientifically and reasonably to ensure that the sows give birth to robust piglets with a high birth weight. Pregnant sows must not be too fat; too much abdominal fat affects the expansion of the fetuses and placenta, and also affects fetal development. If a sow has insufficient nutrition during pregnancy, the birth weight of the piglets produced will also be reduced. When raising sows, corresponding feeding methods should be adopted according to the sow's body condition: for multiparous sows in poor body condition after weaning, it is advisable to adopt the feeding method of "focusing on both ends while looking after the middle," that is, strengthen nutrition in the early stage of pregnancy, feed according to the standard after the body condition recovers, and after 80 days of pregnancy, strengthen nutrition again to promote faster fetal growth; for sows in good body condition before mating, the feeding method of "coarse first, fine later" should be adopted, that is, supply more green and coarse feed in the early stage of pregnancy, and mainly feed concentrated feed in the later stage.

3. Strengthen the feeding of lactating sows and improve the sows' lactation capacity. If a sow has sufficient milk to suckle the piglets, there will be a reliable guarantee for the piglets' weight gain during the suckling period. The main measures to improve the lactation capacity of sows are: (1) Adopt the method of reducing feed before farrowing and gradually increasing feed after farrowing to ensure the sow has a good appetite. Three days before farrowing, reduce the feed amount to 1/3 to 1/2 of the original amount, and stop feeding on the day of farrowing. Three days after farrowing, increase it to the original amount, and then gradually increase the feed amount as the number of suckling days increases. (2) Feed more green, succulent feed and root and tuber feed to increase milk production. (3) Massage the udder. For first-litter sows, start massaging the udder every day from 15 days before farrowing, for one continuous month, which can achieve good results. (4) Increase the concentration of nutrients and the variety of feed in the sow's diet to ensure the nutritional needs for lactation. The compound feed for lactating sows should contain 13.1 megajoules of digestible energy per kilogram, 146 grams of digestible crude protein, 0.6% calcium, and 0.4% phosphorus. (5) For sows with low milk production, use Chinese herbal medicine to promote lactation.

4. Do a good job in the feeding and management of suckling piglets. (1) Give newborn piglets a suitable ambient temperature. Newborn piglets have sparse hair and a thin subcutaneous fat layer, are afraid of cold, and must live in a relatively high ambient temperature. From 1 to 4 days after birth, it should be 34°C, and after 7 days of age, it should be 25°C to 30°C. (2) Promptly suckle colostrum after birth and manually fix the teats. After the umbilical cord is cut, the piglet should immediately be allowed to suckle colostrum, suckling one as soon as one is born. After all the piglets in the litter are born, they can be trained to have fixed teats; the strong piglets should take the rear teats, and after the order is arranged, mark them on the pig's body. Each time they are suckled, place each piglet on the designated teat, and after 2 to 3 days, the suckling teats of the piglets can be fixed. (3) Supplement feed early. Starting from 5 to 7 days after birth, use special complete pellet feed for suckling piglets to entice the piglets to eat. (4) Pay attention to supplementing blood-forming elements such as iron, cobalt, and copper. Within 4 days after birth, piglets can be injected with iron dextran-cobalt injection or fed a prepared ferrous sulfate-copper sulfate solution. The specific method is: inject 1 milliliter of iron dextran-cobalt solution at 3 days of age, and inject 2 milliliters intramuscularly again at 10 days of age. Alternatively, dissolve 2.5 grams of ferrous sulfate and 1 gram of copper sulfate in 1000 milliliters of hot water, filter it, and administer it orally to the piglets; it can be dropped into the piglets' mouths with a dropper, twice a day at 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 days of age, 10 milliliters each time.

5. Wean piglets at the appropriate time. Generally speaking, the longer the suckling period, the greater the weaning weight of the piglets, but too long a suckling period will reduce the number of litters a sow produces per year. At present, the weaning age promoted is mostly 35 days of age.