What are the scientific methods for promoting lactation in lactating sows?

The quality of milk from a lactating sow, that is, the amount of milk secreted, directly affects the growth rate and health of the piglets. Therefore, once a lactating sow has insufficient milk or no milk, scientific lactation promotion must be carried out. The types of sow milk deficiency are analyzed as follows:

1. Lactation promotion method for first-litter sows: Insufficient milk in first-litter sows is mostly caused by insufficient mammary gland development or a low dietary nutrient level. Therefore, manual massage of the udder 1-2 times daily during the week before and after farrowing should be performed to promote mammary gland development and recovery of lactation function. For sows with insufficient milk after farrowing, 1-2 afterbirths from healthy sows can be minced, decocted in water, and given in 3 divided doses, or 1-100 human lactation-promoting tablets can be fed.

2. Multiparous sows: This is mostly caused by mastitis or systemic diseases. The underlying disease should be treated, gastrointestinal function regulated, and some green fodder supplemented. For treatment, use Chinese herbal medicine: Astragalus membranaceus and Vaccaria segetalis 200 g each, decocted in water and administered, one dose daily, for 3-5 consecutive days; the lactation-promoting effect is good.

3. Lactation promotion method for obese sows: This is mostly caused by sows being too fat, leading to insufficient or absent milk. Hormonal lactation promotion should be used for treatment. Prolactin subcutaneous injection, 500-1000 international units each time, injected twice consecutively, or oxytocin 30-50 units; the injection effect is very good. In addition, reduce the energy and protein in the feed.

4. Lactation promotion for overly thin sows: Postpartum milk deficiency in thin sows is mainly caused by malnutrition and some wasting diseases that make the sow thin, resulting in milk deficiency. Symptomatic treatment should be given and the diet adjusted. Add 20% corn, 10% soybean cake, and 20% bone meal to the diet for feeding. At the same time, simmer pork bones into soup, add it to the feed and mix well for feeding.

5. Multiparous and highly prolific sows: For sows with multiple fetuses, uneven litter size, or small litters, and milk deficiency at parity 8 or above, they should be culled. For highly prolific sows, the following two methods can be adopted: a. Fostering: Let sows with small litters nurse them. The principle is "take out the large and keep the small," because the larger and stronger piglets in the original litter are taken out and fostered to sows with fewer piglets, and fostering is done at night to reduce stress. The fostering days should preferably be such that the farrowing dates of the sow and the foster sow do not differ by more than three days of age, and early feed induction can be carried out. The sow should be given added high-energy protein, and some vegetable oil can be added, along with 3% animal fat, to increase milk production and meet the nutritional needs of the piglets.

6. Measures to promote ovulation in sows

1. Estrus induction: Use the teaser method, with a boar chasing sows that have not been in estrus for a long time, or keeping the boar and sows in the same pen, to promote estrus and ovulation.

2. Early weaning: Under general circumstances, for pig farms with moderate technical conditions, early weaning can be adopted, preferably not exceeding 5-6 weeks.

3. Combined litters and controlled nursing time: After piglets born to sows with small litters have consumed colostrum for 3 days, foster them to other sows. In this way, the sow no longer nurses, so it can quickly come into estrus and be mated. To control nursing time, that is, after training the piglets to start eating early, adopt the method of separating the sow and piglets, control the nursing time and number of nursings, and the sow will begin estrus 6-7 days after the non-nursing period.

4. Hormonal estrus induction: The hormones commonly used in production include pregnant mare serum, chorionic gonadotropin, or estrogen. Pregnant mare serum subcutaneous injection 5 ml each time, estrus can occur in 4 days; chorionic gonadotropin is suitable for intramuscular injection of 1000 units for medium-sized sows;

5. Chinese herbal medicine: Estrus-promoting powder, actinolite and Epimedium 40 g each, Angelica sinensis, Astragalus membranaceus, cinnamon, Chinese yam, and prepared rehmannia 30 g each, grind into powder and mix evenly, mix with feed and administer to one sow at a time.