What are the common causes of piglets being crushed to death?
Pigs are the livestock species with the largest farming area in our country. When raising pigs, the management of piglets is very important. Because no matter which pig farm it is, cases of piglets being crushed to death have almost always occurred. This seriously affects pig-farming profitability and also has a very large impact on the overall development of the pig herd. So what are the causes of piglets being crushed to death? Today the editor has brought you several causes of piglets being crushed to death. Let's take a look below!
1. Insufficient milk from the sow
After piglets are born, they need sufficient breast milk to provide growth nutrition. And if the breast milk is sufficient, then after piglets are full they will spend most of their time in the warming room. But if the sow's milk is insufficient, it will cause the piglets to be too hungry, and the piglets will therefore continuously suck at the sow's teats. This causes the sow to be restless and constantly lie down and get up, thereby leading to the phenomenon of piglets being crushed to death. So we should pay attention to increasing the sow's feed intake during lactation, maintaining sufficient drinking water, providing sufficient nutrition for the sow, and increasing the sow's milk production.
2. Equipment and facilities
The structural facilities in the sow farrowing crate are also a main cause of piglets being crushed to death. The farrowing crate structure design of many pig farmers is very unreasonable. For example, some sows have a relatively long body shape, and if the length of the farrowing crate is the same as the sow's body length or even larger than the farrowing crate, then when the sow lies down, it is easy for the edge of the feed trough to trap her, causing the piglets' activity space to be extremely small, and the piglets may also be trapped under the feed trough and crushed to death. So we should pay attention to reasonably designing the length and width of the farrowing crate, and install anti-crushing devices under the farrowing crate to ensure the safety of the piglets.
3. Ambient temperature
The temperature requirements of piglets differ greatly from those of sows. If the temperature in the warming room is too low, then the piglets will like to nestle beside the sow. Moreover, because piglets' body temperature drops sharply after birth, their movements are also very sluggish. So piglets are extremely easy to be crushed to death by the sow. Conversely, if the temperature is too high, then the piglets will be restless and frequently lie down and get up to drink water. These two factors greatly increase the probability of piglets being crushed to death. Therefore, we should adjust the temperature well and ensure the warming room temperature is within the range suitable for piglet growth. At the same time, controlling the temperature of the sow house is also very important and should be kept at around 20 degrees.
4. Reasons related to the sow herself
Many reasons related to the sow herself can also cause piglets to be crushed to death. For example, if the sow is too heavy, not only is it inconvenient for her to move, but the space in the farrowing crate will also be very narrow, making it easy to crush piglets to death. Also, some postpartum sows, because of excessive physical exhaustion, become too fatigued, or suffer from diseases of the limbs and hooves, etc., resulting in inconvenience in lying down and getting up, thereby crushing piglets to death. There is also the issue of the sow's maternal nature. Some sows can react quickly after crushing a piglet and get up. But some sows with poor maternal nature or slow reactions are completely unmoved by the squealing of the crushed piglet, so it is naturally easy for the pig to be crushed to death.
The above is a brief introduction to the causes of piglets being crushed to death. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!