What causes a sow to refuse to nurse?

Many pig farmers find that their sows refuse to nurse their piglets during feeding, which often leads to piglet deaths and gives pig farmers a serious headache. So why do sows refuse to nurse? What causes it? Let's take a look together.

1. The sow has no experience

Some sows are giving birth for the first time, and the intense pain of farrowing puts their nerves under extreme tension, so they have an inexplicable fear of nursing piglets, or the piglets being nearby makes them irritable, so they refuse to nurse. In this case, arrange for a caregiver to help the sow learn to nurse. First, when the sow lies down, gently scratch her belly with your hand, and while the piglets are nursing, prevent them from fighting over teats and keep the nursing environment quiet. After doing this a few times, the sow will be able to nurse normally.

2. Uncomfortable environment

When a sow that has just given birth is moved to another pen, the sudden change in environment causes discomfort, and she also becomes rather tense emotionally, which may lead to refusal to nurse. In this case, move the sow to the new pen before farrowing so that she gets familiar with it, and then she will not become tense after farrowing. Once her emotions settle down, she will naturally nurse the piglets.

3. Insufficient milk production

When a sow has plenty of milk, her udder is swollen within a few hours, and after the piglets nurse, the udder shrinks and the sow feels a certain comfort. However, if the sow has no milk and the piglets still try to nurse, it only makes the sow irritable, so she refuses to nurse, and sometimes she directly lies flat on the ground with her teats pressed against the ground, so the piglets cannot continue to nurse. This situation generally occurs in sows that are thin and malnourished. In this case, increase the feed supply, especially the supply of concentrated feed and trace elements.

4. Breast pain

When a sow has plenty of milk, her udder becomes very swollen and painful, and at this time she will actively nurse. If a piglet bites the teat on its own, the sow feels pain and may even attack the piglet. Or when the sow develops mastitis, it hurts as soon as a piglet touches her, so she also refuses to nurse. If mastitis occurs, promptly use penicillin or other medications for prevention and treatment.

The above is an introduction to the reasons why sows refuse to nurse. We hope it helps you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.