What are the reasons for slow fattening in pigs raised in winter
Pork, as the meat product with the largest annual consumption in our country, is in relatively high demand all year round. And some pig farmers find when raising pigs in winter that the pigs fatten up very slowly. This increases the cost of raising pigs, delays the time to market, and thus reduces the profitability of pig farming. So what are the reasons for slow fattening in pigs in winter? Below, the editor will give you a brief introduction. Let's take a look!
1. Improper weaning
When raising pigs, many pig farmers mainly use the single-step weaning method when weaning piglets. After weaning, the piglets are immediately put on the market, and the single-step weaning method has many drawbacks. This is because the piglets previously lived in a stable and comfortable environment centered on the sow. Sudden weaning causes the piglets' living environment to change abruptly, so the piglets cannot adapt in time, which affects their fattening. Therefore, one week before weaning the piglets, the number of times the piglets suckle breast milk should be appropriately reduced, and this should be done gradually until weaning is complete. Only then can weaning stress in piglets be effectively avoided.
2. Delayed supplementary feeding
During the lactation stage of piglets, farmers should do a good job of supplementary feeding. If supplementary feeding is not done in time during lactation, then the piglets will not be able to eat feed normally after weaning. This hinders the growth of the piglets and leads to poor growth and development. Therefore, we also need to do a good job of supplementary feeding, starting when the piglets are one week old. This allows them to eat feed normally when the sow's milk production declines, ensuring normal growth and development of the piglets. At the beginning of supplementary feeding, the feed should mainly be sweet, fragrant and easy to digest, then gradually transition to normal pig feed.
3. Improper management
Many farmers now raise pigs in the form of one pig per pen. And the pigs eat, drink, rest and defecate all in one place. In addition, the farmers do not clean the pigpens in time, resulting in extremely poor growing conditions for the pigs. Especially when temperatures are low in winter, pigs are very prone to various diseases, which also has a great impact on their growth. Therefore, according to the size and feeding speed of the pigs, we should keep 5 pigs per pen, so that the pigs can compete for food, thereby increasing their feed intake and growth rate. Then we should do a good job of cleaning the pigpens to ensure a good pen environment.
4. Improper epidemic prevention and castration
When many farmers buy pigs, they choose to carry out epidemic prevention and castration on the pigs at the same time. This causes the piglets to suffer three kinds of stress at the same time: epidemic prevention, castration and weaning, which seriously affects the growth of the piglets. As a result, the piglets cannot regain their weight for a long time, and in severe cases it can even cause the piglets to become stunted pigs. Therefore, we should control the castration time according to the different uses of the piglets, for example, if the piglets are not to be kept for breeding. Then boars should be castrated at 3 weeks, and sows at one month. Epidemic prevention should be done well before feeding after birth, and a second epidemic prevention should be carried out after weaning, to avoid diseases such as swine fever and erysipelas.
The above is a brief introduction to the reasons for slow fattening in pigs raised in winter. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!