Management Details for the Farrowing Area in Large-Scale Pig Farms

【Summary Description】 The key to successful delivery room work lies in meticulous management. To ensure that delivery room tasks are carried out effectively, in addition to skills training, we must also focus on identifying and addressing gaps, as well as promptly resolving any issues that arise.

I. Sow Management

Before farrowing, sow baths should be conducted. Before the sows enter the farrowing room, farrowing crates, brooding boxes, and other equipment must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. The sows’ bodies should be rinsed clean of any dirt, then disinfected once with a medicated solution. On the second day after the sows are placed in the farrowing crate, both the sows and the crates should be disinfected again. This helps minimize the introduction of pathogens from the breeding pig house as much as possible.

Care for Sows After Farrowing: After farrowing, the sow’s reproductive tract remains open, her physical strength is weakened, and her immune resistance is reduced, making her highly susceptible to pathogenic microbial infections and disease. Therefore, it is essential to implement appropriate health-care measures. Feeding Management for Postpartum Sows: The amount of feed consumed by a sow after farrowing directly affects the survival rate of piglets, their weaning weight, and the sow’s return to estrus after weaning. Generally, feeding amounts should be adjusted based on the sow’s appetite, body condition, and parity. Wet-mixed feed is recommended. In summer, the number of feeding sessions can be increased to boost feed intake during lactation and reduce weight loss during this period. During lactation, the sow’s feed intake should be maintained at or above 6 kilograms per day. Additionally, after farrowing, administer 200 grams of brown sugar twice daily for 10 consecutive days. This practice helps the sow recover her physical strength, promotes the elimination of lochia, and lays a solid foundation for the next reproductive cycle.

II. Piglet Management

During delivery, prepare all necessary tools (delivery cloth, warming lamp, povidone-iodine, sterile suture thread, scissors, dental clippers, health-care medications, etc.). Clean the sow’s udders with a 0.1% potassium permanganate solution, disinfect the farrowing bed, and finally clean the sow’s perineal area. After piglets are born, first remove any mucus from their mouths and noses, then thoroughly wipe their bodies clean. Next, ligate the umbilical cord about 2 to 3 centimeters away from the navel, cut the cord 1 centimeter away from the ligation point, and apply povidone-iodine for thorough disinfection. When clipping the piglets’ teeth, make sure to trim them into flat edges without damaging the gums, thus preventing bacterial infections. Administer 2 milliliters of oral antibiotics such as gentamicin or ciprofloxacin lactate to prevent diarrhea in piglets. Before feeding the piglets milk, express the first drop of milk to determine the number of functional teats on the sow, ensuring that the piglets can promptly consume colostrum.

Postpartum care

1. Foster Care: The purpose of foster care is to improve the survival rate and uniformity of piglets. Select sows with abundant milk and good maternal instincts for fostering. After placing piglets under foster care, closely monitor their growth conditions at all times, and combine weaker piglets into larger litters to enhance their survival rate.

2. Tail docking should be performed 1 to 3 days after farrowing. The length of the tail to be docked should extend from the middle of the testicles in boars to the lower end of the vulva in sows. The tail-docking forceps must reach a certain temperature to prevent bleeding after docking.

3. Castration: Castration is generally performed at the age of 7 days. The day before castration, disinfect the pigsty thoroughly, ensuring that the pigsty is sanitary, dry, and clean. The castration procedure must be carried out meticulously and completely. Piglets with inguinal-scrotal hernias or diarrhea should not be castrated. After the procedure, the incision site must be thoroughly disinfected. The indoor temperature should be kept constant, and the pigsty must be kept particularly clean and tidy to prevent death caused by infection of the incision site.

For piglets, starting from the 3rd to the 5th day after birth, mix the feed into a paste and apply it to the piglets’ mouths to help them become familiar with the feed’s taste. After 7 days, place the feed in the feeding trough and use a wet-mix feeding method—add small amounts frequently, ensuring the feed remains fresh and the trough stays clean and hygienic.

Iron supplementation for piglets: Newborn piglets have an iron reserve of 50 milligrams at birth and require 7 milligrams per day to meet their growth needs. However, the iron content in sow’s milk is only 1 milligram. For piglets, iron supplementation should be administered at 3 days of age. When administering the injection, gently stretch the skin perpendicularly to its surface to prevent backflow.

Environmental hygiene and temperature management create a large-scale environment for sows and a small-scale environment for piglets. The large-scale environment should be maintained at 18℃ to 22℃, which helps increase the sow’s feed intake and prevent weight loss in sows. The small-scale environment for piglets should be kept at 30℃ to 32℃ initially, with the temperature reduced by 2℃ each week thereafter. Ensure proper ventilation and insulation to minimize drafts and prevent diarrhea in piglets. In summer, use fans and wet curtains for cooling; where conditions permit, install drip-cooling equipment.

Humidity: Maintaining a dry farrowing room is crucial for piglets. However, high humidity in farrowing rooms is a common issue—especially when the sow’s drinking behavior causes excessive moisture on the farrowing bed. Therefore, it’s important to promptly adjust the flow rate of the waterers to ensure 2 liters per minute. Also, regularly check faucets and valves for any leaks. After sows are moved into the farrowing house, spreading lime along the farrowing house corridors can help reduce humidity.

Cleanliness is the primary factor contributing to diarrhea in nursing piglets, and the main causes can be summarized as poor temperature control, high humidity, and inadequate sanitation. Before sows are moved onto farrowing crates, the farrowing room must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, and then left empty for at least five days. The empty-room disinfection process should involve a continuous sequence of five steps: "clean—flush—disinfect—fumigate—empty." Sows entering the farrowing crate must first take a bath and then undergo disinfection to remove any dirt or contaminants from their bodies, ensuring that no substances are brought onto the farrowing crate. Special attention should be paid to thoroughly rinsing and disinfecting the hooves. Any feces produced by the sow should be promptly removed, leaving no manure on the farrowing crate.

Personnel Management: Delivery room staff must be responsible, patient, and meticulous. Every step of the process should be meticulously detailed. Employees should be evaluated based on their production performance, with clear rewards and penalties. It’s essential to promptly understand employees’ mental states and effectively motivate them to enhance their work enthusiasm.

Pig farm managers must pay close attention to the details of daily feeding operations. Refining the management of sow care is key to improving the farm’s production performance.