Page 12 of articles about weaning

In order to apply the most suitable feeding regime to newly weaned pigs it is important to balance the trade off between the detrimental effect on performance of feeding levels of protein that are too low to allow maximal growth and those which increase the risk of post weaning diarrhoea.

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.

The decrease in the contact time between the mother and her piglets, due to the common practice of early weaning, has led to the appearance of some piglets that are not completely colonised or that have not acquired a sufficient level of maternal antibodies. On mixing with other litters, these piglets are faced with distinct strains while lacking the necessary antibodies against the disease.

In order to carry out this economic analysis we have kept in mind the variables between the two types of weaning in the different phases: site 1 (reproductive sows), site 2 (weaning), and site 3 (fattening).

The consequences of the inflammatory and immune responses on tryptophan metabolism could impair the availability of tryptophan for body protein accretion, growth and all other metabolic processes involving this amino acid.

Haemophilus parasuis is present in all swine producing countries and its prevalence is close to 100% on conventional farms. However, only a percentage of these farms present pathologies associated to the infection.

Fish meal has always been the main source and the preferred choice of nutritionists for quality protein, above all in the formulation of feed for the youngest ages.

With this article we begin the publication of a series of three unpublished articles by José Barceló for pig333.com on the age at weaning. José gave us the articles a few days before his death. As a way of paying homage to him we have decided to publish them posthumously without any alterations.

Piglets face a very stressful process at weaning and feed intake becomes one of the most limiting issues.

The use of pulped food incites consumption and allows a smoother transition from milk to feed.

On a conventional farm with no problems with Glässer’s disease, it is possible to isolate various strains of Haemophilus parasuis which colonise piglets while being in balance with the animal’s immunity without producing pathology.