How to care for newborn piglets? Practical methods and precautions
When raising pigs, caring for newborn piglets is a very important task. This is because at this stage, the various physiological functions of newborn piglets have not yet matured. Their resistance is very poor, so they are extremely susceptible to disease infection, and the mortality rate is relatively high. Therefore, we must strengthen the care of newborn piglets to ensure their normal growth. So how should newborn piglets be cared for? Let's take a look together below!
1. Teeth clipping and tail docking
Newborn piglets need to suckle colostrum, so to avoid the piglets' teeth damaging the sow's teats, and also to prevent injuries caused when piglets fight among themselves, attention must be paid to teeth clipping after the piglets are born. When clipping the teeth, we must pay attention to the degree and must not cut them too short. This prevents damage to the piglets' gums and tongues, which could allow pathogens to invade. Before clipping the teeth, the clipping tools must be disinfected to avoid cross-infection by bacteria. If the piglets are not developing very well, then there is no need to clip the teeth. In addition, we must also do a good job of tail docking according to the piglets' growth conditions.
2. Preventing suffocation
After the piglets are born, the mucus and amniotic fluid inside their mouths must be removed promptly. If there is a lot of mucus and it is difficult to remove, then gently lift the piglet's rear end so that its head faces downward, then gently pat the piglet's chest wall, and then use clean gauze to wipe away the mucus from the respiratory tract to avoid suffocation. If a piglet is suffocating, then a rubber tube must be inserted and air blown into the tube rhythmically to ensure breathing. Then attention must also be paid to doing a good job of umbilical cord cutting. Umbilical cord cutting requires special attention; improper umbilical cord cutting will have a great impact on the piglets' subsequent growth.
3. Fixing the teats
After the piglets are born, suckling colostrum is very important, so we must pay attention to doing a good job of fixing the teats. This is because although the sow's entire nursing process generally lasts about 5 minutes, each time during nursing, the actual milk let-down time is only about 30 seconds. So if the sow's teat positions are not fixed, then some piglets with weak constitutions will definitely not be able to compete for colostrum. And weak piglets will also become stunted pigs due to insufficient colostrum intake, and may even die in severe cases. Therefore, about two days after the piglets are born, we should do a good job of fixing the sow's teats to ensure that every piglet can normally get colostrum.
4. Preventing crushing and trampling
Newborn piglets have relatively poor mobility and are very easily crushed or trampled to death by the sow. Therefore, we must pay attention to doing a good job of preventing crushing and trampling, and reduce the stocking density of each pen. They must not be raised too densely, to prevent piglets from squeezing each other and causing trampling. Then, when the sow is nursing or resting, attention must be paid to the piglets' positions to ensure that the piglets are within a safe range. Then daily care must be done well, frequently observing the piglets' growth conditions to avoid crushing and trampling.
The above is a brief introduction to how to care for newborn piglets. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!