Page 12 of articles about piglet in Articles

Many sow farms have been increasing total born and weaning large litters with heavier pigs. With litter size continuing to improve and lactation length increasing to around 21 days, the demand for milk production must continue to increase to meet the increasing demand of heavier pigs.

Here we present a table of differential diagnosis of the most common diarrheas during lactation.

The majority of newborn mamals are very sensitive to low temperatures. However, piglets are especially predisposed to loss of energy.

Although pigs can be infected with different species of coccidia, in suckling piglets the most important disease caused by enteric protozoa is coccidiosis due to Isospora suis.

The genus Clostridium includes numerous species of anerobic bacteria with large rod-shaped forms, spore makers, and producers of extremely potent and diverse toxins that are almost always responsible for the diseases they cause.

In recent years the field of sweet taste has experienced a sudden twist due to the presence of taste receptors not only in clusters in the oral cavity (taste buds) but also in non-taste tissues particularly in the mucosa of the GIT.

Escherichia coli is an enterobacteria that forms part of the normal intestinal microbiota of healthy animals. Usually, E. coli present in animals are communal antipathogenic strains and they even play a beneficial role, since they compete in several ways with the pathogenic strains in the ecological niche of the lumen.

It isn’t easy to compile a bibliography referring to this subject matter in specific cases; one has to search for it among the footnotes of other, more general works. The aim of this article is to sum up aspects of feeding that can be important at the time of farrowing.

In swine, dystocia is usually caused by oversized piglets (or by a narrow birth canal) instead of foetal positioning problems.

A correct supervision is one of the key points of a farrowing.

In order to follow the evolution of the pigs at weaning and fattening, having a growth curve is very practical.

The Danish pig producers’ research organisation has tested a number of different designs. They recommend pen dimensions of 2.7x1.8 m to accommodate modern prolific breeds.

When the sow is pregnant, the corpus luteum remains and continues to produce progesterone. While the levels of progesterone are high the sow does not become in heat and maintains gestation.

Without a doubt weaning is the most stressful process suffered by a pig, or at least it is up until that moment in its life.

Colostrum offers 3 essential properties to the piglet: very useful energy source (vital for generating movement and avoiding temperature loss), immune supply (protects against germs that the piglet begins to come into contact with) and natural growth factors (complete the maturity of the piglet).

Piglets are born with very limited energy reserves: compared to other newborn mammals, they have much less energy stored per kg liveweight.