Pig Breeding: Birth, Feeding, and Weening

This blog is dedicated to the raising, farrowing, and breeding of Pigs. Please check back often as updates and additional articles will be added weekly.

Pig Breeding and Farrowing:
One of the most crucial facets of pig production is getting adolescent piglets off to a good beginning. For this reason it is crucial that the direction and stockmanship of a farm is upheld at the highest achievable standards.

Not long after birth are the newborn piglets needed to be retained at temperatures close to thirty degrees centigrade. This may be achieved by use of an infra red lamp. In addition, bedding material assists in keeping them warm and creates their own micro environment. At this phase the Piglets will huddle collectively as this is a natural form of behavior.

Feeding time:
The mother pig, a.k.a. sow, for the initial couple of weeks of the piglets' life will be confined to a crate to prevent the sow from rolling over and squashing the adolescent piglets to death. For the beginning couple of days piglets are vulnerable as they weigh barely over a kilogram compared with the sow at 250 kilogram.

After the beginning two days of living, piglets possess their own personal teatlet that they breastfeed from. A healthy sow will have fourteen operational teats. Milk production tends to be greater at the front of the udder compared with the backmost. After approximately four weeks of maturity, piglets are generally weaned off of teat-feeding. This is an optimal time for both the well-being of the sow and the piglets. Shortly after weaning the sow dries off.

Sows commonly come on heat inside a week. They are then mated either by nature with a boar or with artificial insemination or with a combining of both.

At feeding time sows may either amass feed automatically from a feeder or they may be fed on an independent basis. If feed independently, the individual feeder allows for the sow to feed without disturbance and stress from her pen mates and provides the farmer with a good opportunity to check up on her health. The farmer may also check whether the sows are pregnant using the ultrasonic microphone. Additionally, pregnancy testing can be conducted, which can yield positive readings 28 days after mating.