Causes and treatment methods for newborn piglets not suckling

Pig farming covers a very large area in our country, and its farming history is very long as well. When raising pigs, many pig farmers find that some newborn piglets show a refusal to suckle after birth. This seriously affects the piglets' growth and leads to an extremely low survival rate. So what causes newborn piglets to refuse to suckle? And how should it be handled? Below, the editor will give everyone a brief introduction. Let's take a look together!

1. Symptoms of not suckling

Newborn piglets will begin to show refusal to suckle after about three days from birth. At the very beginning, we can see that the piglet wants to nurse but lacks the strength to suckle, or is unwilling to suckle the mother's milk, does not stay with the group, and lies down alone. Some piglets show weakness in all four limbs and walk without purpose. The skin is pale and weak, the body surface is also very cold, body temperature drops, and the stress response to external factors is sluggish or basically absent. In severe cases, convulsions and even death may occur.

2. Causes of not suckling

There are many reasons that cause piglets not to suckle. The main one is that the piglet's blood sugar is low, which affects the piglet's vitality and causes it to be unwilling to feed. It can also be affected by disease. For example, if piglets become ill due to mold toxins, pseudorabies, and other pathogens, they will also not suckle. Then there is the sow's reason. Many sows, because of insufficient milk production or conditions such as mastitis, will hide their teats, causing the piglets to be unable to get milk. Or first-time farrowing sows cannot adapt and are unwilling to let the piglets suckle.

3. How to handle it

For piglets that do not suckle due to their own reasons, if the symptoms are mild and they can swallow, then we should use a syringe with a rubber tube. Drench the piglet with about 15% glucose water, keeping the amount at about 15ml each time, and drench it once every 3 hours. If the symptoms are relatively severe and it can no longer swallow, then inject the same concentration and amount of glucose water into the piglet's abdominal cavity, once every five hours, until the symptoms ease and it can nurse normally on its own.

4. Preventive measures

The phenomenon of hypoglycemia in newborn piglets is generally caused by insufficient intake of the sow's milk. Therefore, when farming, we should pay attention to good management during the late pregnancy of the sow to ensure the sow has sufficient milk after giving birth. Management should also be strengthened during the lactation period to ensure every piglet can eat its fill. Then the environment should be well controlled, with the temperature maintained at around 24°C. If piglets become ill, then glucose should be supplied in time to prevent the disease from spreading.

The above is a brief introduction to how to handle newborn piglets that won't suckle. That's all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!