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Weaning:
Each baby piglet being weaned is the potential profit of the future. Thus he guarantees the continued employment of the staff and the future existence of the farm. Getting him off to a good start
is vitally important for his future performance and profitability.
The weaning of the sow from her piglets is a very traumatic time for the young animal. The stockman has removed the main source of food and water from the pen, the piglets are left without their
protector and in a lot of farms they themselves are mixed with a large number of strangers, thrown into a barrow or trailer, or worse still left out in a cold draughty passageway before being moved
to totally new accommodation. In some units litters are kept intact and weaned into their own pens, in others the piglets are mixed and the new pens are established on size and sex. The number of
piglets per pen can vary from ten to hundreds. More Info.
The first goal after weaning is to get the piglets settled and eating as quickly as possible. The piglets are used to being fed roughly every hour with a sterile warm highly
nutritious food (sow's milk). They all suckle together and this response continues after weaning. Therefore adequate feeding and drinking area must be available for all piglets to eat and drink
together. Clean, fresh water should be freely available in open drinkers in the pen. Nipples should not be relied on to supply the water requirements of the weaned piglet. If the piglet does not
drink then he will stop eating and become dehydrated very quickly.
In the first few days fresh water and food should be introduced to the weaned pen as often as possible. A little and often is the best. Creep diets should not be stored in feeders nor
should the bags be stored in the room as these diets will absorb smells and become stale quickly. If piglets are overfed they will root out the stale feed to get at the fresher feed and create major
wastage. If you can see feed wastage then it is over 10%, a huge extra cost for the hog to carry. The sow suckles her piglets at night and after weaning the piglets will look for food during the
night hours therefore it is advisable to have a night-light or a pilot light to give the animals enough light to see their surroundings. Pigs have poor night vision. The weaned piglets should be fed
and watered last thing in the evening and first thing the following morning. The feeder should be emptied of all stale feed at each feeding. This feed can be fed to older hogs. Dehydration is the
greatest risk post weaning. Great care should be taken to ensure that the watering system is working correctly, that the header tank and pipe network is clean and therefore the water is clean and
fresh. Would you drink a cup full of water from the nipple? If not, why? I think you need to look at your water system maintenance. More Info.
Useful routines:
Put solid piece of timber or a tray on the pen floor for the first few days and use this to feed creep on.
Use water drinkers around the pen to allow easy access to water.
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Environment:
The newly weaned piglet requires high temperatures immediately post weaning. He has low body fat cover to insulate him from low environmental temperatures. He has to change from a predominantly
liquid diet to a solids and water ration therefore his intake is low. He has to compete with his new pen mates for survival and he has to acclimatise to his new accommodation.
Initially room temperature should be maintained at 28-30°C (82-86°F) and reduced as intake increases. If temperature is not reduced as intake increases it will have the affect of reducing
the rate of increase in intake and therefore you lose potential growth by spending money on heat. If the temperature is dropped too quickly then this will stress the piglets and could result in scour
or a disease outbreak. Getting it right is dependent on good observation, knowing the piglets intake and common sense.
The ventilation system must be capable of maintaining the required internal temperature immaterial of external conditions. The system must maintain a fresh environment without draughts and with
very low variation in temperature. Piglets can withstand lower temperatures at night but fluctuating temperatures can create major stress for the animal and reduced performance if not a disease
outbreak.
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Nutrition:
The feeding of the young piglet is critical. Water is an essential nutrient that is sometimes taken for granted by the stockman. Feeding practice is detailed under weaning
section.
Ration quality and ingredients are dependent on the age of the piglet at weaning and the solid food intake. The younger the piglet the higher the quality. Very early weaning (5-10day old) will
necessitate a sow milk replacement diet and an automatic dispensing system. These systems are available and can operate well with care and attention. As weaning age increases the quality of the diet
can be reduced from total milk replacement to a total cereal diet for the older pig. At 3 - 4 week weaning a good quality creep diet is required that is palatable, highly digestible and concentrated
(high energy levels) as intake is low. These diets are expensive but are used in small quantities in order to get the piglets established eating solid food. More Info.
The secret to efficient production is to achieve the transition to a solid based diet with minimum stress and minimum reduction in growth rate. The piglet can grow at 250grm (.55lb) per day while
suckling, what is it doing in the first week after weaning? There are many nutritional experts around the globe and many creep feed manufacturers but for the hog producer he has to test out with his
own "expert"(piglet) the system that suits his conditions best. More Info. The affect of increasing growth rate in the first few weeks after weaning has been shown to have a beneficial affect on
subsequent performance right through to sale. More Info.
The second goal of the feeding system should be to get the piglet onto a totally cereal based diet as soon as possible. Overfeeding of elaborate high spec diets can result in a very high cost per
lb. of live weight produced. On the other hand introducing low spec diets too early will result in reduced growth rates right to sale and thus increase the feed cost and overhead cost to produce the
pig. Trials need to be carried out to evaluate the correct system for your farm. More Info.
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Management:
The nursery should operate on an "all in all out" policy with only one weeks weaned hogs. Therefore it is important to have even production in the farrowing house so that there is enough hogs of
the same age coming out of the farrowing rooms at weaning to fill the nursery room. Understocking of the room will increase the cost to maintain the correct environment, while overstocking has a
disastrous affect on piglet performance. Problem animals that are unable to adapt to the nursery may have to be removed and they should remain outside the system i.e. they should not be brought back
to the farrowing house and join the following weeks weaning. These piglets could be fostered onto a weaned sow that is being culled. This sow and litter should be accommodated in a separate farrowing
section to the normal system. This isolation process eliminates these piglets as a source of infection for the younger stock.
Adequate access to feed and water is essential after weaning and provision should be made for all piglets to eat and drink together for the first few days after weaning. Additional drinkers on the
pen floor plus the nipple watering system and increased feeding area must be provided. This will reduce competition within the pen at feeding and allow the weaker piglet to get an adequate
intake.
Cleanliness and hygiene are important in the nursery. The room should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected after the last batch and if possible dried and rested. The ventilation system should
draw in clean air from the outside with a minimum risk of contamination from the exhaust air from other hog buildings.
The movement of animals both in and out of the room should be done with patience and care. Needless force and abuse cannot be tolerated. The future of the enterprise is dependent on these small
piglets yielding a profit and all stress reduces performance and therefore profit.
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Target or Potential Growth curve:
The piglets in the farrowing can grow at an average of 250grm (.55lb) per day. The stresses associated with weaning can mean that the piglet loses weight in the first few days in the
nursery, this must be minimised and intake increased as quickly as possible in the nursery. After overcoming the trauma of weaning the growth rate for the piglet should increase with intake and with
age. More Info.
View Potential or Target growth curve
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Disease Prevention:
Maternal immunity transferred to the piglet in the colostrum (sow's first milk) is reducing with age and the animals own active immune system is only starting to develop. The length of active
maternal immunity varies with the disease type but in general the piglet around 30kg (70lb) is the most susceptible. These animals will be excreting large numbers of infectious material and are a
major risk to younger animals. More Info. Thus the no contact rule between hogs of different ages. Keep each weekly batch intact and move to clean accommodation always. Hog that have to be removed from the
batch should be housed separately outside the system.
Always check the younger animals first and then move to the older groups. Clean and disinfect boots between rooms to minimise the risks of bringing dung back from older to younger stock on your
boots.
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Useful links
Research Articles on Swine Health:
Health Index
Research Articles covering Swine Diseases:
Disease Index
Research Articles covering Ventilation:
Ventilation Index
Research Articles covering Management:
Management Index
Research Articles covering Nutrition:
Nutritional Index
General Research Articles:
Post weaning maximising feed intake
Ontario Agriculture
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