Handling of the pan feeders and the lamps in the farrowing pens
Having a piglet feeder and a lamp in each farrowing pen avoids the annoying moving of these items between rooms and sometimes between buildings.
Page 4 of articles about weaning in Articles
Weaning-to-service interval: what affects it and how to control it
Which factors affect the WTSI? Among the factors with a biggest influence we have: inadequate intake during lactation, season of the year, and length of the lactation.
Clinical case: An exceptionally serious encephalomyocarditis case in a nursery
There was a sudden increase in mortality in a site 2 farm with the loss of the "biggest piglets" in the group.No particular symptomatology was seen but every day some dead piglets were found.
The live weight of the piglets weaned at 28 days: a decisive factor for a good post-weaning adaptation?
The performance decrease suffered by the piglets when weaned is one of the most worrying factors at the pig farms.
Nurse sows (II)
When using nurse sows (foster sows) whilst making some piglets "go forwards" before the expected time we end up weaning them one week before. This poses certain problems.
Strategic management of the replacement gilts for sustainable PRRS control
The desired result of the strategic management of replacement gilts at a company level is to minimize the economical losses potentially caused by PRRS.
The good taste of pigs (part IV): bitter
Bitterness leaves an unpleasant feeling linked to a decrease in feed consumption. On the other hand, modulating feed intake with bitter compounds might be an interesting tool to limit excessive voracity of pigs and sows at certain stages.
Analysis of the health in the weaners and fattening stages; a different approach (II)
The losses due to diarrhoea problems appear concentrated, basically, during the first week in the weaners stage, whilst in the farms that have not suffered diarrhoea problems, the mortality is distibuted more evenly.
Clinical case: Post-weaning diarrhoea outbreaks in Eastern Europe
The pig farm management team in charge of the post-weaned piglet nursery areas on these wean-to-finish sites has found serious problems with diarrhoea in recent batches of piglets arriving from the breeding farms.
Management of farrowing objectives to achieve optimal piglet weight at weaning (II): batches every two weeks
The dispersion of matings described in the previous article is even more drastic on farms operating in bands over one week.
Management of farrowing objectives to achieve optimal piglet weight at weaning (I): weekly batches
Wouldn’t it be great if all the sows on a farm (weaned sows, gilts, repeat breeders…) could be mated on the same day?! And if we were able to choose, on Mondays?
Managing a 3-week batch system, weaning at the beginning of the week
This may be a good option when farrowings and litter control during the first days are the priority.
Managing a 3-week batch system
On small farms it is better to group tasks on specific days, leaving other days with less tasks in order to organize days off...
Work routines. Weaning
In the last decades the degree of technification and evolution of the productive systems at all levels has been constant.
Task organization: What day of the week should we wean? Several weanings per week
On large farms, it is common to wean more than once per week. This way, tasks can be homogenized throughout the week: each day will have a similar volume of work as the previous day.
What day of the week should we wean?
A large part of the work on a swine farm can be divided into 3 key tasks: weaning, mating and farrowing. The day chosen for weaning determines the other two tasks; first, the matings, and then, as a consequence, the farrowings (the 2 ‘great events’ of which productivity of a farm depends on).