What points should be noted in the care of newborn piglets?
When raising pigs, the care of piglets is especially important, as it affects the overall development of the pig herd in the middle and later stages. This is especially true for newborn piglets, whose care must be strengthened even more. If care is improper, it will increase the mortality rate of newborn piglets, thereby affecting breeding profitability. Moreover, when caring for newborn piglets, there are many points that require our attention. So what exactly should be noted in the care of newborn piglets? Let us take a look below!
1. Piglet vitality
After piglets are born, attention must be paid to maintaining their vitality. If piglet vitality is too poor, it will raise their morbidity and mortality rates, and growth speed will also decline as a result. Therefore, we should pick out the piglets with poor vitality whose birth weight is below 1.5 jin, to ensure the overall vitality of the piglet group. During the sow's pregnancy, attention must be paid to supplementing sufficient nutrition for her to promote the development of uterine blood vessels. This will enhance piglet vitality and ensure birth weight. Then delivery assistance work should be done well, shortening the farrowing process as much as possible. If the farrowing process is too long, piglets are very easily suffocated, and their vitality will also be affected, turning them into weak piglets.
2. Piglet umbilical cord cutting
After piglets are born, wait about 5-8 minutes before carrying out the umbilical cord cutting work. This can prevent piglet hypoxia, and piglet vitality and physique can also be enhanced as a result, and it is also very beneficial to the growth and development of piglets in the middle and later stages. When cutting the umbilical cord, attention must be paid to controlling the length well, usually keeping about 4 cm, and it must be ensured that when the piglet stands up, the umbilical cord will not touch the ground. Moreover, umbilical cord blood contains a great deal of hematopoietic stem cells, which are very critical to piglet growth. Therefore, attention must be paid to handling the umbilical cord well to avoid the phenomenon of umbilical cord blood loss.
3. Pay attention to sow milk
After piglets are born, they must definitely drink enough breast milk. Especially at the time of farrowing, attention must be paid to letting piglets drink colostrum as quickly as possible. This is because sow breast milk contains many antibodies, which are very beneficial to the sow's physique. And we must also pay attention to fixing the sow's teats well, ensuring every piglet can drink sufficient breast milk. Within the first three days after piglets are born, we should frequently observe and record the piglets' nursing situation, so as to adjust piglet fostering and formulate corresponding health care plans. Avoid the phenomenon of insufficient sow milk or overly poor milk quality.
4. Cold protection and warmth
The suitable temperature for newborn piglets is generally around 35 degrees. If the temperature is too low, it will cause the piglets' body temperature to drop rapidly, by as much as 5 degrees in severe cases. In an insulated pig house, it takes about 3 hours for their body temperature to return to normal. So when assisting the sow with farrowing, we must do a good job of cold protection and warmth. After birth, the amniotic fluid on the piglets' bodies should be wiped clean in time, to avoid amniotic fluid entering the lungs and causing pneumonia. And if not wiped dry, it easily causes piglets to catch cold and have diarrhea. Within six hours after birth, great attention must be paid to temperature control.
The above is a brief introduction to what to note in the care of newborn piglets. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and we hope it can help everyone!