25/03/2022
*HOW TO COMBAT PIGLET MOTALITY ON A PIGGERY FARM*
One of the major sets back when it comes to piggery is when the mortality rate is high. This is because in that way a farm won’t be profitable at all and that can be frustrating which is why we as farmers have to address it.From experience, am sure well know that every farmer’s goal and pride is to see the offspring from their sows flourish because of the masses of money and time they have invested in their projects. Therefore, it would only be fair if one gets a return on their investment. Through this article we are going to see some of the mistakes we make (knowingly or unknowingly) that lead to the death of piglets on a farm.The farrowing process can be quite stressful for both the piglets and the sow but we can try to make the sows as comfortable as possible prior to farrowing and also make preparations for the arrival of piglets. All this comes with organised planning. Firstly, one should have a rough idea on when their sow will be giving birth in order for them to arrange where they are going to farrow from and also to ensure they are around to give the sow assistance if its needed. Its advisable to avail the sow with soft dry grass/torn up papers on which it will farrow .As soon as the grass is availed, stash it in a suitable place for the sow( Some sows by instinct will collect all this grass and make a nest on which they will farrow).The point of doing this is for the piglets to be farrowed on a smooth comfortable area to avoid injury from any rough surrounding surfaces. Now that we have ensured that the sow is comfortable, the incoming piglets are our priority. Prior to farrowing, ensure that you have some clean dry rags and surgical blade(razor blade), limoxine-25 spray. At farrowing time, ensure that the sow is in an open space to avoid crushing the piglets on the walls and also to have enough room for you in case it needs assistance. Clean every piglet with clean dry rags you secured (this helps to keep the worm especially on cold days). Carefully tie then cut the umbilical cord and apply the limoxine-25 spray on the umbilical cord to avoid infection. keeping the umbilical area clean reduces the chances of the piglets getting umbilical hernia.
Put every piglet in a warm dry place while the sow is farrowing but allow them to suckle at regular supervised intervals because sometimes the farrowing process can take hours and its important for the piglets to feed since they are born with no immunity at all hence making them vulnerable in case of an infection.Ensure that the sow has colostrum for her piglets by manually pulling the t**s. This is very important because most farmers tend to assume that its obvious for the sow to have milk which causes the piglets to die of starvation in case the sow doesn't have milk. In case the milk isn’t sufficient for the piglets, be ready to supplement the piglets with sow milk which is readily available at different animal stores in Kampala and in case one isn’t financially prepared, he or she can use boiled cow milk mixed with glucose (not very advisable for it sometimes leads to diarrhoea due to the difference in nutrient composition in cow milk. But its better than nothing).
To ensure that the farrowing process is complete, the sow should expel an afterbirth that will be collected and thrown away (avoid pulling it from the sow for you could leave most of it in leading to complications.it should be expelled gradually by the sow). Thoroughly clean the sow and the area that it farrowed from to avoid infections.
Encourage constant supervised suckling every 2hours as this plays a big role in the survival and development of the piglets.The suckling should be supervised so as to avoid the sow from sleeping on the piglets and to make sure the sow doesn't have *puerperal psychosis*(a situation where the sow tends be violent to its piglets. My last remark is about keeping piglets warm. Keeping piglets warm during their entire time of suckling is important as this helps them grow rapidly. Piglets are born with little surface fat and are hairless which makes it important to avail heat for them.When exposed to coldness, piglets will use all their energy reserves to keeping their bodies warm which will leave little or no energy for them grow and this will lead to stunted growth and death. MUHWEZI GIDEON, DOVAG FARM 0702077639/0781447020 [email protected]
