Pig Farming

Poor Viability of Piglets : A Review

January 7, 2024

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Poor Viability of Piglets : A Review

The poor viability of piglets can be attributed to various factors, and addressing these issues is crucial for ensuring the health and survival of the piglets.

Management of preweaning piglet mortality is very important as it directly affect the economy of the farm. Many factors are responsible for the cause. Factors affecting pre-weaning mortality viz. intrapartum still-birth, crushing by sow, hypothermia, starvation due to poor maternal behaviour and low viability of piglet were observed and recorded.

Poor viable pigs are usually classified as being small and less than 800g in weight, but they can also include those of good birth weight that are weak and lacking vitality. It is necessary to differentiate between the poor viable and the non-viable one. The latter is the pig considered, on that farm with that management, to have no possibility of survival. The rule of thumb is simple, when the body temperature has been brought up to normal and if the pig has no suckling reflex when the little finger is placed inside the mouth, it is unlikely to survive and therefore management time should not be wasted on it. The size of the piglet is in part determined very early on in its life at around the time of implantation. While we do not understand all the mechanisms that are likely to produce a large or small placenta and thereby a large or small piglet, nevertheless, several contributing factors can be identified. · Breed is important and in particular hybrid vigour. This is clearly seen in the difference between breeding from a pure-breed or pure line and a cross-bred female. There are different levels of hybrid vigour between different hybrid and breed combinations. The selection of a good breeding female should include the capacity of that animal to produce good even birth weights. · Nutrition during the early part of pregnancy, particularly around implantation, may play a role. Unidentified growth factors contribute to the establishment of the placenta. Field experiences have shown that major problems of poor viable piglets (up to 40%) tend to occur more in herds where milk by-products such as whey, have been fed in the first three weeks post-mating. In such farms when the ration was changed to a cereal diet, the problems went away.

The reasons for this are not known and one can theorise that dietary insufficiencies or unknown growth inhibiting substances might be present in some diets. · Some authorities recommend increasing the daily ration during the last 3 to 4 weeks of pregnancy in order to increase the birth weight of all the pigs in the litter,particularly for outdoor sows in winter. This however, will not reduce the variation within the litter. · As the age of the sow increases so do the numbers of poor viable pigs and there is a greater disparity in birth weights. · Diseases such as swine flu, PRRS, swine fever and parvovirus (in fact any disease that can cross the placenta), can produce marked increases in poor viable pigs. If there is a herd problem, it is necessary to assess the overall clinical picture to identify any diseases that might be associated.

Cause of poor viability piglets

cause of poor viability of piglets affected by multiple factor and can be classified into two major groups as 1. Sow factors 2. Piglets factors. These two groups of factors are generally interrelated and responsible for poor viability of piglets. In the Table.1 shows the factors that contribute to poor viability.

Factors affecting poor viability of piglets

Causes of poor viability-

Sow factors :

Litter size ,Nutrition in pregnancy ,Breed Parity, Age, Diseases ,Farrowing problem ,Agalactia ,Mastitis ,Metritis ,Udder oedema

Piglet factors :

Weak at birth ,Poor teat access, No teat access, Low birth weight, Hypothermia ,No milk ,Cold weave/chilling ,Low birth weight ,Navel haemorrhage, Sticky eyelids

Checklist of actions to be taken for poor viable piglets:

Good maternity management 2. Provide heat source to piglets 3. Proper identification of poor viability piglets 4. Colostrums feeding 5. Teat access 6. Early foster7. Piglet weight check-up 8. Provide energy to piglets 9. Split sucking 10. Check farrowing 11. Proper nutrition in pregnancy 12. Proper farrowing pen design 13. Check the udders 14. Check for diseases in piglets and sow

IMPORTANT POINTS FOR MANAGEMENTS OF THE POOR VIABLE PIGLETS:

Immediately clean the piglets to remove excess mucus from nostril, mouth. 2. Provide the piglet with a rapid source of energy Sows colostrums is ideal, obtained at farrowing and given to the piglet by syringe. 3. Immediately place the piglet at a temperature of at least 30ºC (86ºF), ideally in a well bedded box with an infra-red lamp above or electric bulb. Make sure that the lamp does not burn the skin. 4. Poor viable pigs rapidly deplete their minimal energy resources if they are allowed to dry off in the normal farrowing house environment. 5. Always make sure that the eyelids are prised open because some are born with eyelids stuck together. 6. Do not use a stomach tube because it does not stimulate a suckling reflex and the sooner this is established the better. Do not syringe colostrums into the piglet until a suckling reflex is felt by the little finger placed in the mouth. 7. Cow or goat colostrums collected soon after parturition and stored deep frozen can be used as an alternative source. It is thawed out in warm water as and when required. 8. Poor viable pigs should be given between 5-10 ml colostrums as soon as the body temperature has returned to normal and this again repeated 4 to 6 hours later. 9. Intramuscular Iron-dextran compound injection to newborn at 100-150 mg /cc is customary. 10. A poor viable pig has a much less chance of survival if it is left within the litter to compete with the bigger piglets. Where a number of sows are farrowing at the same time collect all the small pigs together to form a new litter so that they are given special . 11. A newly farrowed sow with easy teat access should be selected to suckle these under privileged animals. 12. Split suckling is useful if poor viable piglets have to be left on the sow and he litter should be divided into two weight groups and the smaller weaker ones given uninhibited access to the udder on at least two separate occasions, as soon as they can be collected together after birth.