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A question for every sow herd operator who wants to optimise the colostrum management applied to the farm’s baby pigs: How should you decide if your current routines on colostrum are working? The answer is simple: Look at your records on pre-weaning mortality. Anything over 10% exceeds the normal threshold. 75% of the deaths above 10% are likely to be due to a failure to ensure that every pig born receives enough of the life-boosting qualities of colostrum.
Next question, then, must be: How much intake is enough? Data from research reports show that a baby pig needs to consume 250 grams of colostrum during the short time after farrowing that this is secreted from the sow’s udder. At that level, the survival chances of all the piglets are just about equal. Drinking more than 250g does not give an extra benefit, but a lower intake increases the risk especially for any pig born weighing under 1.1 kilograms.
That is what makes colostrum management a modern problem. A typical sow produces about 4 kilograms of colostrum, in other words enough for up to 16 piglets. Yet today’s litters from prolific sows are often bigger than that. The fact that increased litter size is linked to a wider variation in weights at birth only adds to the difficulty. More pigs may be born under-weight and therefore in greater need of their colostral boost, while the disparity in birthweights allows the heaviest members of a litter to drink more and so deny a fair share to their litter-mates.
Colostrum provides not only antibodies to guard the newborns against disease, but also an energy supply to help keep them warm and active. It must be remembered that the energy backpack carried at birth is only enough for the first few hours. Without the new dose of energy supplied by colostrum, baby pigs huddle together for warmth and become slow to suckle. Their rectal temperature may drop from around 38-39 degrees Celsius at birth to only 34 degrees, putting them at much greater risk of chilling.
The window of opportunity for correcting any deficiency closes in just a few hours after farrowing. Within no more than half a day, the protein in colostrum, containing the vital immunoglobulin IgG and other maternal antibodies, can drop by 50%. This often means substantially less IgG being ingested by the later-born pigs in the litter.
Question three is therefore: How should a herd manager respond? a series of measures can be taken:
- A fundamental one at the start involves making sure piglets are born into a warm environment --- their behaviour will tell you if it is too cold.
- Among other points, sow vaccination will enhance the immunity factors in the colostrum.
- Look at the feeding of the sows as well, recognising the research that has shown overweight sows can yield about a kilogram less colostrum than from fitter females.
- Parities deserve consideration: First-litter gilts generally produce less colostrum and its IgG antibody content tends to be lower. Litters from sows at or beyond parity six or seven are inclined to contain a wider mix of birthweights.
The advice is that staff must work on the assumption that every litter in every parity will need colostrum management, the only difference being how much --- and that depends on individual circumstances.
The Olympics of colostrum management
We could think of a three-tier:
The Bronze level is applicable to all litters. It means being ready to arrange split-suckling (sometimes called shift-suckling) of piglets divided into sub-groups according to their weight. The extra 5-10 minutes of time per litter spent in split-suckling soon pays for itself in lower mortality and more marketable pigs.
Silver level is where more individual pig care and attention are required, meaning in practice that the piglets are helped to find a teat and start suckling. An important point here is that the teat should match the size of the piglet. With older sows there’s a greater risk that her teats are too large for tiny pigs. Sometimes a better option is to foster these piglets onto a gilt or second-parity sow with smaller teats.
The Gold level of colostrum management is reserved for the pigs most in need of help. They are weak, they are cold and a body temperature of under 34 degrees Celsius probably reduces their swallowing reflex. The only way to save them is by bottle-feeding colostrum that has been collected from the sow. You are doing well if they drink 5 ml from the bottle. Up to 10 ml is possible, but only with extreme patience. Just be careful not to rush it, because you could drown the pig! After the first bottle-feeding, put the pig back in a warm place, then either repeat with the bottle or try them on the udder. Once they have had the energy burst from the colostrum they should be ready to start suckling for themselves within about half an hour. Of course, for every pig in every litter, watch that the anti-crush bars in the farrowing pen do not block piglets’ access to some of the sow’s teats.
Focus with colostrum management on the piglets <1.1 kg and on the last born piglets in a litter, disregard the birth weight. Extra care and attention for these neonatal pigs pays off! Keeping the pigs warm is pivotal. Taking a closer look to the behavior of the pigs will tell where to improve the microenvironment.
