The biggest cause of piglet deaths is lay ons and that's across the industry.By making sure we have piglets that receive colostrum and are viable and that we have the sow set up as well as possible, the farrowing room, the crate, the feed, the water, that's only going to increase our chances of our piglet survivability and having a healthy sow come out at weaning.
It's 100 percent critical that piglets receive this colostrum because this gives them antibodies so they have an active immune system because they're basically born with no immune system.They have no protection from any health challenges unless they're receiving mom's first milk.
Really, we want to try to get that in within the first 24 hours because, not only does the milk change but also the gut of the piglet changes so they can't absorb this after a 24-hour period.We need to make sure that every hour that we're on the farm with our animals that we're focusing on colostrum intake.
Weger notes many genetics are now capable of producing upwards of 20 piglets in a litter and what we really need to focus on is the piglets in that medium weight range, about 950 grams to 1.4 kilos, because they're small but still viable so they need a little extra attention.
Source : Farmscape.ca