Page 2 of articles about farrowing room in Articles

We spoke with Alberto Garcia (Inga Food SA, Spain) and Chretien Gielen (De Varkenspraktijk, The Netherlands), to discuss aspects related to weaning management and conditions.

We can place the weakest piglets from each litter to dry out and warm up in this incubator while we tend to the next sows.

Why is it important to take sow temperatures after farrowing? How does feed intake affect litter size?

The incidence and distribution of small litters and factors affecting the number of piglets born alive on swine farms.

Confinement is strongly criticised by public opinion and the industry is moving towards innovative housing of lactating sows.

Do you know which feeding system best fits your needs? This article describes and compares the systems that have been implemented in the last years: feeding ball, dry and wet feeding systems.

There are casualties in the farrowing unit due to poor colostrum intake but, how many are there really? Are they just being classified as non-viable piglets?

This trick tries to reduce the number of deaths by providing the piglets more resting space by using the corridor.

This time, Joan Wennberg discusses the different feeding and environmental control systems in the farrowing house with Heraclio Corchón and Javier Lorente

Sometimes, when working on the farm, we have to get up close to the sow to check its card in order to know its productive cycle. Or, whilst carrying piglets to be fostered, we ask ourselves, will that sow be a second parity one?

Lifting partitions in the farrowing unit allows piglets from different litters to mix, sharing teats and socializing.

Achieving good levels of colostral immunity by vaccinating sows is the first step to prevent scours; subsequently, active pre or post-weaning immunization must be added to prevent post-weaning diarrhoea.

Diarrhoea is their most typical clinical manifestation, and the earlier the onset, the more harmful it is. Newborn piglets can present with another clinical picture, with signs of sepsis (shock, depression, death, polyarthritis), which is associated with an extraintestinal E. coli.

An easy solution to store these feeders is to hang them in the corridor of their room. In this way, they do not stand in the way and they can dry well before being used again.

Management factors and environmental conditions are often triggers or predisposing agents, not only to the clinical presentation of the disease, but also its severity and course.

The article provides an alternative to the current vaccination programs that could be the solution for farms with early onset oedema disease. However, this alternative —consisting of vaccinating the dams at the end of gestation to achieve post-weaning piglets immunization—, also raises questions...