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Swine Technology Workshop<br />
Mission critical - Piglet care in the first 48 hours<br />
Close attention to the farrowing process and management of the sow and piglet during the first 48 hours of life is<br />
the key to minimizing stillborn piglets and ensuring maximum piglet survival, says Martin Waldner, Hog Boss at<br />
Hartland Colony, near Bashaw, Alberta. The 800-sow unit weans over 30 pigs/sow/year, with 14.7 piglets born alive<br />
per litter and 12. 8 weaned. Sow body condition at farrowing and sow feeding, both before and after farrowing,<br />
are important contributors to such high performance, Waldner believes. With such large litters, good colostrum<br />
management is crucial to ensure high piglet survival, while the sow and piglets’ environment is also a major factor.<br />
Waldner describes the management practices followed in the barn that are essential to his success.<br />
Feed intake prior to farrowing has a big impact on the results<br />
after farrowing. We increase the feed by 1.5 to 2 lbs per<br />
sow per day 5 weeks before the farrowing date, which gives<br />
us a bigger and healthier pig born. Sows get a 2ml dose<br />
of Farrowsure Gold and Litterguard LTC 5 weeks prior to<br />
farrowing. All shots in gestation are hip injections.<br />
Farrowing rooms are washed, disinfected and dried down<br />
before moving the sows in 5 days before their due date.<br />
Sow feeders are washed out after disinfecting too. After<br />
sows are moved in we lower all heat lamps to 24 inches off<br />
the slats, and check to make sure bulbs work. This means we<br />
shouldn’t have to fix a heat lamp when a sow is farrowing<br />
and avoids piglets getting chilled without the heat from the<br />
heat lamp. Important notes on sow cards from previous<br />
farrowings are recorded on the wall in front of each sow, so<br />
sows red-flagged for having laid-on piglets or stillborns are<br />
monitored more closely.<br />
24 | Western Hog Journal | Winter 2012<br />
On farrowing day the temperature in the room is raised to<br />
22°C and every sow farrowing has a heat lamp behind her,<br />
on the right side, to ensure that the piglets are not chilled and<br />
are able to dry off faster, as a newborn piglet’s temperature is<br />
around 39°C when it is born. A new born piglet uses its body<br />
temperature to dry off, therefore it is important to have extra<br />
heat at the farrowing site, like heat lamps, to help dry off the<br />
newborn piglets. Every crate has a creep area with an electric<br />
heat mat in it. When the piglets are 5 to 6 days old we turn<br />
off the heat lamps while the piglets are sleeping on the heat<br />
mats. The mats are set on a temperature curve; days 1 to 5<br />
they are set at 35°C then the temperature is gradually reduced<br />
down to 20°C at day 28.<br />
We farrow two rooms per week, 18 crates per room. Gilts<br />
and first parity sows are in one room and second parity sows<br />
and older are in the second room. Each room has 2 rows of 9<br />
crates per side with a 6 feet by 8 feet creep area at the end of<br />
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