The male
* In the wild or in extensive pig keeping systems, the male pig, (unlike males in other species) does not initiate sexual behaviour. He waits for initial signals from the female.
* Boars reach puberty about 6 months of age, but are generally not used for service till 7-8 months old. These ages can vary a lot depending on the feeding level.
* They start learning their courting behaviour and show elements of sexual behaviour while still suckling and as part of play with pen mates. They develop these behaviours even more if mixed with strangers.
* Boars reared in isolation are much slower to develop successful courting behaviour. Group reared boars are better than those reared in individual pens, and intensive stocking will encourage aggression as well as sexual behaviour.
* Boars reared intensively in homosexual groups maintain this relationships for many months after parting, and they can often show abnormal sexual behaviour.
* The boar's courting ritual includes:
* Chasing the sow.
* Nuzzling her head, flanks, shoulder and anogenital area.
* Occasional pushing or leaning on the sow to test her state.
* Drinking her urine.
* He urinates frequently.
* He grinds and chomps his teeth salivating and frothing at the mouth.
* This courting ritual has an important effect on improving the conception rate of the sows being mated. In outdoor pigs boars often have rings inserted in their noses to stop them rooting up the pasture. This affects their courting ritual when it comes to nuzzling the sow and causing a negative response.
* When the boar mounts, he rests his belly along the sow's back and grasps her with his forelegs. Inexperienced boars will head mount, side mount and dismount frequently before intromission (penis entering the vagina).
* Ejaculation occurs when the cork-screw penis of the boar locks in the sow's cervix. This can take considerable time - averaging about 7 minutes but it can last up to 25 minutes.
* The boar thrusts and rests many times and eventually ejaculates up to 500 ml of sperm. Other farm species produce a 5-15 ml ejaculate.
Boar behaviour and handling
* Treat all boars with respect and treat them as individuals.
* Handle them carefully and de-tusk them every 6 months (with veterinary advice).
* Remove the front accessory claws to protect the sow from injury during mating (with veterinary advice).
* Don't overwork the boar - one boar to 20 sows is most common.
* Four services a week are plenty till the boar is 12 months old. Don't let him serve more than 6 times a week as this will lower his fertility and subsequent litter size from the sows mated.
* Too frequent use of a boar as a teaser to locate sows coming into heat, may frustrate him too much and he may not serve when needed.
* Mate young boars to old sows in peak oestrus, and old boars to gilts.
* Don't let young boars get injured during their early matings.
* After layoffs of longer than a month, libido may drop and a boar may need the stimulus of an old sow in peak oestrus that has already been served by another boar.
* Spreading some ejaculate from another boar along the sow's back will help to stimulate a boar.
* Take the sow on heat to the boar so he doesn't waste time investigating a new environment. Otherwise he'll waste time in an elaborate ritual of urinating, rubbing scent from his body on the walls, marking the territory with salivary foam and fight the sow to establish dominance.
* Boar pens should provide a good foothold for the boar but not so rough as it will cause foot problems.
* Boars should be kept within sight, sound and smell of sows. However this assumes the boar is the dominant animal in the herd. He may be considerably stressed with other boars near by, as in the wild each boar would be solitary.
* Boars get very large and need regular exercise to keep fit. It's a good idea to have a system where the boar walks daily to the sow's accommodation to help stimulate oestrus and identify sows on heat.
* Regular quiet handling by the stockperson is ideal, walking behind with a pig board for protection, and talking in quiet reassuring tones.
Boars and Artificial Insemination (AI)
* AI in pigs is now well established in commercial pig improvement and is a specialist operation.
* At AI centres boars are trained to mount dummy sows and serve into an artificial vagina as this is less complicated than using a live sow.
* Boars may be harder to train if they have mated sows first. But again this varies with the personality of the boar.
* Gentle, reassurance by the stockperson is the secret of success to get a good semen sample from the boar.
* Boars will show courting behaviour to the dummy by nuzzling its flank and rear end.
* Libido varies greatly between boars, and is related to frequency of use.
* Boars can be stimulated more by giving them false mounts, or by observing a collection from another boar.
* It's a good idea to allow the sow or gilt 10-20 minutes contact (through a pen) with a boar after insemination.
Behaviour of housed boars
* In less intensive systems where sows are kept in straw yards (and not in stalls), boars often run with them and few problems arise.
* If a boar is put in among a group of unfamiliar loose-housed sows, he will waste time investigating the environment and not checking for sows on heat.
* In intensive pig farming, the boar does not spend time in social contact with sows and opportunities to consort with females are decided by the human in charge.
* Here, sometimes the boar pens are arranged between pens of six loose-housed sows to achieve maximum physical presence of the male.
* In other systems, including where sows are tethered or in stalls, the boar is walked daily in front of them to test for oestrus.
* When boars walk behind stalled sows a boar may be confused by the fact that they are immobile and hence displaying an invitation to be mounted. This can be very time-wasting.
* It's well established that depriving boars and sows full opportunity to indulge in their full courting behaviour affects pregnancy and litter size.
Boar behaviour problems
* Serving into the rectum instead of the vagina can be a problem. Avoid this by supervising young boars in their early work to make sure they are aligned correctly.
* Extremes of heat may affect the boar's enthusiasm. Delay his work till evening.
* Masturbation by coiling the penis inside the diverticulum of the prepuce. Make sure the boar's penis has actually entered the sow and he is not masturbating.
* Boars that masturbate persistently should be culled although the prepuce can be surgically removed.
* Some boars behave normally up to the point of mounting and then squat down on the floor and ejaculate. Great care is needed to help these boars achieve success as they may persist in this habit.
* Aggression. Boars are always potentially dangerous and need to be handled with care. Nervous and aggressive boars should be culled. Some boars will show aggression with strangers but not with their regular handlers.
* When strange boars meet, they strut shoulder to shoulder, head raised and hair bristling along their backs. Deep grunts, jaw chomping and mouth frothing continues.
* In a fight, boars face each other with their shoulders in opposition and apply sideways pressure. They circle around, biting and slashing at each other with their tusks. They may charge each other with mouths wide open and bite. The loser turns and runs away squealing.
* Subsequently after a win, the winning dominant boar need only grunt to get submission. Newly-mixed boars fight less if they are both put in a strange environment.
Weaning
* In the wild, pigs are weaned at around 14-17 weeks old.
* Farmed pigs were traditionally weaned at 8 weeks of age, but in more intensive systems weaning is done at 3, 4 or 5 weeks.
* Even weaning at 24 hours after birth after the piglets have had their colostrum has been studied. But current opinion among pig behaviorists and welfarists is that piglets cannot effectively cope with weaning before 3 weeks old.
* In some intensive systems, young pigs are kept very intensively in wire-floored tiered cages from weaning at 7 days. At about 7kg live weight, the pigs in these systems proceed to grow and fatten in "flat deck' cages on mesh floors.
* The development of very early weaning systems is based on getting the sow pregnant to produce more pigs per year as weaning stimulates the sow to return to oestrus.
* Abrupt weaning is now considered to be preferable to removing pigs gradually. Again this is to achieve higher production from the sow.
* The more intensive the system is for growing pigs after weaning, the greater is the need for skilled care by the stockperson. There also needs to be a good smoke alarm system and back up for power breakdowns.
* Studies of highly-intensive systems have shown wide variation from pigs showing stress behaviours, to pigs adapting well without stress. Clearly the person in charge who controls the pigs' environment is the key factor.
The stress of weaning
* Removal of their mother and hence their source of feed, warmth, security and comfort.
* They lose their normal clues for feeding given by the sow's vocal messages.
* They may be mixed with strange pigs from other litters and in a strange pen.
* Competition for feed, water, sleeping space and dunging area may be increased.
* They will face new bacterial challenges and diseases.
* They may be subject to rough handling, transport, markets, veterinary inspection and treatment.
* They will experience climatic change with cold temperatures and draughts being especially dangerous.
Reducing weaning stress
* Piglets can cope with one or two of these stressors, but more that this leads to poor growth for up to 14 days after weaning.
* The settling down period of pigs at weaning seems to be around 3 weeks.
* The major aim is to ensure pigs are eating adequate amounts of correctly balanced dry feed before weaning. Flavour and physical form of this feed is important to encourage high intake.
* Getting the pigs used to the lower temperature of the fattening accommodation is important. The sow's nest is around 28 C and they have to get used to temperature in the growing pens of 19C and eventually below this.
* Avoid erratic temperatures, as this will cause pigs to huddle and fight for positions to keep warm.
* Provide adequate trough space, again to stop intense competition and fighting.
* Adequate lying space and a comfortable bed are important as growing pigs in intensive housing spend around 60-70% of their time resting/sleeping. Constant standing or restlessness will lead to fatigue and poor performance.
Behaviour of growing pigs
* Poor growth and poor feed conversion inevitably will have a large behavioural component, especially in intensive systems.
* There are many factors involved in poor performance, and the skill is to determine which of them can be changed, with the welfare of the animal as well as profit very much in mind.
* The physical form of the diet is important. Pigs generally prefer wet to dry feeds, but dry feeds keep pigs occupied for longer.
* Scattered feed takes longer to eat than feed in troughs - again keeping pigs occupied for longer. It also saves the costs of troughs and fighting over trough space.
* Providing adequate trough space is of major importance, and prevents aggression and stress.
* Feed offered ad lib will keep pigs fully occupied but restriction is often needed to control growth and performance. For example pregnant sows, as opposed to lactating sows, need their diets restricted to prevent them getting too fat. Obesity lowers subseqent lactation performance.
* Pigs perform well on once-a-day feeding but feeding time is a good time to inspect pigs. Reduced appetite is a good early sign of potential health problems.
* So it's important in large intensive systems to use time saved on chores to be spent on animal inspection.
* This is especially the case as systems become even more automated where light levels are reduced. Increasing the lights for inspection will then activate the pigs, so there is a dilemma here.
* Increasing stocking density/pen is an easy way to get more throughputs in a pig unit. It can have devastating effects on pig welfare.
* This approach can cause a major upset in social order leading to bullying, tail and ear biting, disease, low feed conversion efficiency and low profits.
* Pigs highly stocked in pens spend more time feeding, standing and walking, and less time resting and sleeping.
* Contented pigs are recumbent for up to 19 hours a day. They drowse for 5 hours and sleep about 6-7 hours.
* Pen floors have an important role in pig comfort and behaviour. They should provide a good non-slip, non-abrasive surface with no protruding edges, and not harbour bacteria or parasites. They should be impervious to water and be easily cleaned.
* The pig's cloven hoof was designed to walk on earth, so slatted and perforated floors can cause damage and discomfort.
* When social orders have been sorted out by fighting, all that is needed is a loud grunt and a feint with the snout by the dominant pig to maintain this order.
Mixing growing pigs
* To reduce stress, mix pigs from 3-4 litters before weaning so they know eachother.
* Don't put newly mixed pigs in too large a pen, as they'll stay in their original groups, they'll not mix and they'll fight to defend territory.
* Put all the pigs to be mixed in a strange pen.
* Distract them by giving them straw or paper sacks to chew, or spray them with a strong-smelling fluid.
* Provide adequate trough space and feeding and drinking opportunities.
* Mix them at dusk when identification of rivals will be more difficult.
* Keep pigs in close weight ranges and remove any sick animals or any being severely molested.
* The fewer pigs there are in a single group, the tighter they can be packed.
* In general, vices are more common in large groups in large houses where social orders are more are more complex, and maintaining them causes more aggression and stress.
* Don't change diets at the time when pigs are mixed.
* Feed pigs ad lib diets for 2-3 weeks after mixing to avoid digestive upsets. Most producers feed ad lib for up to 10 weeks of age. Feed restriction should be delayed until the pigs have sorted out a new social order.
* Provide plenty of feed and trough space.
* Opinions on mixing sexes vary. Generally, if they have a good environment, sex does not cause problems. There may be some mounting in the last 4-5 weeks before slaughter.
Water for growing pigs
* Water is provided from bowls, metal nipples or metal drinking straws. Pigs are very quick to learn how to operate them.
* The watering device is a great plaything for bored pigs, so it will be subject to rubbing, nuzzling and chewing. Rigid construction is essential.
* Place the water source near a dunging area or drain or above a food trough because of spillage.
* Make the pigs have to reach up to get at nipples when drinking.
* Don't put water sources in positions where pigs will bruise themselves. Put them in a corner.
* Be consistent in the choice of drinkers provided.
* In the wild or in extensive pig keeping systems, the male pig, (unlike males in other species) does not initiate sexual behaviour. He waits for initial signals from the female.
* Boars reach puberty about 6 months of age, but are generally not used for service till 7-8 months old. These ages can vary a lot depending on the feeding level.
* They start learning their courting behaviour and show elements of sexual behaviour while still suckling and as part of play with pen mates. They develop these behaviours even more if mixed with strangers.
* Boars reared in isolation are much slower to develop successful courting behaviour. Group reared boars are better than those reared in individual pens, and intensive stocking will encourage aggression as well as sexual behaviour.
* Boars reared intensively in homosexual groups maintain this relationships for many months after parting, and they can often show abnormal sexual behaviour.
* The boar's courting ritual includes:
* Chasing the sow.
* Nuzzling her head, flanks, shoulder and anogenital area.
* Occasional pushing or leaning on the sow to test her state.
* Drinking her urine.
* He urinates frequently.
* He grinds and chomps his teeth salivating and frothing at the mouth.
* This courting ritual has an important effect on improving the conception rate of the sows being mated. In outdoor pigs boars often have rings inserted in their noses to stop them rooting up the pasture. This affects their courting ritual when it comes to nuzzling the sow and causing a negative response.
* When the boar mounts, he rests his belly along the sow's back and grasps her with his forelegs. Inexperienced boars will head mount, side mount and dismount frequently before intromission (penis entering the vagina).
* Ejaculation occurs when the cork-screw penis of the boar locks in the sow's cervix. This can take considerable time - averaging about 7 minutes but it can last up to 25 minutes.
* The boar thrusts and rests many times and eventually ejaculates up to 500 ml of sperm. Other farm species produce a 5-15 ml ejaculate.
Boar behaviour and handling
* Treat all boars with respect and treat them as individuals.
* Handle them carefully and de-tusk them every 6 months (with veterinary advice).
* Remove the front accessory claws to protect the sow from injury during mating (with veterinary advice).
* Don't overwork the boar - one boar to 20 sows is most common.
* Four services a week are plenty till the boar is 12 months old. Don't let him serve more than 6 times a week as this will lower his fertility and subsequent litter size from the sows mated.
* Too frequent use of a boar as a teaser to locate sows coming into heat, may frustrate him too much and he may not serve when needed.
* Mate young boars to old sows in peak oestrus, and old boars to gilts.
* Don't let young boars get injured during their early matings.
* After layoffs of longer than a month, libido may drop and a boar may need the stimulus of an old sow in peak oestrus that has already been served by another boar.
* Spreading some ejaculate from another boar along the sow's back will help to stimulate a boar.
* Take the sow on heat to the boar so he doesn't waste time investigating a new environment. Otherwise he'll waste time in an elaborate ritual of urinating, rubbing scent from his body on the walls, marking the territory with salivary foam and fight the sow to establish dominance.
* Boar pens should provide a good foothold for the boar but not so rough as it will cause foot problems.
* Boars should be kept within sight, sound and smell of sows. However this assumes the boar is the dominant animal in the herd. He may be considerably stressed with other boars near by, as in the wild each boar would be solitary.
* Boars get very large and need regular exercise to keep fit. It's a good idea to have a system where the boar walks daily to the sow's accommodation to help stimulate oestrus and identify sows on heat.
* Regular quiet handling by the stockperson is ideal, walking behind with a pig board for protection, and talking in quiet reassuring tones.
Boars and Artificial Insemination (AI)
* AI in pigs is now well established in commercial pig improvement and is a specialist operation.
* At AI centres boars are trained to mount dummy sows and serve into an artificial vagina as this is less complicated than using a live sow.
* Boars may be harder to train if they have mated sows first. But again this varies with the personality of the boar.
* Gentle, reassurance by the stockperson is the secret of success to get a good semen sample from the boar.
* Boars will show courting behaviour to the dummy by nuzzling its flank and rear end.
* Libido varies greatly between boars, and is related to frequency of use.
* Boars can be stimulated more by giving them false mounts, or by observing a collection from another boar.
* It's a good idea to allow the sow or gilt 10-20 minutes contact (through a pen) with a boar after insemination.
Behaviour of housed boars
* In less intensive systems where sows are kept in straw yards (and not in stalls), boars often run with them and few problems arise.
* If a boar is put in among a group of unfamiliar loose-housed sows, he will waste time investigating the environment and not checking for sows on heat.
* In intensive pig farming, the boar does not spend time in social contact with sows and opportunities to consort with females are decided by the human in charge.
* Here, sometimes the boar pens are arranged between pens of six loose-housed sows to achieve maximum physical presence of the male.
* In other systems, including where sows are tethered or in stalls, the boar is walked daily in front of them to test for oestrus.
* When boars walk behind stalled sows a boar may be confused by the fact that they are immobile and hence displaying an invitation to be mounted. This can be very time-wasting.
* It's well established that depriving boars and sows full opportunity to indulge in their full courting behaviour affects pregnancy and litter size.
Boar behaviour problems
* Serving into the rectum instead of the vagina can be a problem. Avoid this by supervising young boars in their early work to make sure they are aligned correctly.
* Extremes of heat may affect the boar's enthusiasm. Delay his work till evening.
* Masturbation by coiling the penis inside the diverticulum of the prepuce. Make sure the boar's penis has actually entered the sow and he is not masturbating.
* Boars that masturbate persistently should be culled although the prepuce can be surgically removed.
* Some boars behave normally up to the point of mounting and then squat down on the floor and ejaculate. Great care is needed to help these boars achieve success as they may persist in this habit.
* Aggression. Boars are always potentially dangerous and need to be handled with care. Nervous and aggressive boars should be culled. Some boars will show aggression with strangers but not with their regular handlers.
* When strange boars meet, they strut shoulder to shoulder, head raised and hair bristling along their backs. Deep grunts, jaw chomping and mouth frothing continues.
* In a fight, boars face each other with their shoulders in opposition and apply sideways pressure. They circle around, biting and slashing at each other with their tusks. They may charge each other with mouths wide open and bite. The loser turns and runs away squealing.
* Subsequently after a win, the winning dominant boar need only grunt to get submission. Newly-mixed boars fight less if they are both put in a strange environment.
Weaning
* In the wild, pigs are weaned at around 14-17 weeks old.
* Farmed pigs were traditionally weaned at 8 weeks of age, but in more intensive systems weaning is done at 3, 4 or 5 weeks.
* Even weaning at 24 hours after birth after the piglets have had their colostrum has been studied. But current opinion among pig behaviorists and welfarists is that piglets cannot effectively cope with weaning before 3 weeks old.
* In some intensive systems, young pigs are kept very intensively in wire-floored tiered cages from weaning at 7 days. At about 7kg live weight, the pigs in these systems proceed to grow and fatten in "flat deck' cages on mesh floors.
* The development of very early weaning systems is based on getting the sow pregnant to produce more pigs per year as weaning stimulates the sow to return to oestrus.
* Abrupt weaning is now considered to be preferable to removing pigs gradually. Again this is to achieve higher production from the sow.
* The more intensive the system is for growing pigs after weaning, the greater is the need for skilled care by the stockperson. There also needs to be a good smoke alarm system and back up for power breakdowns.
* Studies of highly-intensive systems have shown wide variation from pigs showing stress behaviours, to pigs adapting well without stress. Clearly the person in charge who controls the pigs' environment is the key factor.
The stress of weaning
* Removal of their mother and hence their source of feed, warmth, security and comfort.
* They lose their normal clues for feeding given by the sow's vocal messages.
* They may be mixed with strange pigs from other litters and in a strange pen.
* Competition for feed, water, sleeping space and dunging area may be increased.
* They will face new bacterial challenges and diseases.
* They may be subject to rough handling, transport, markets, veterinary inspection and treatment.
* They will experience climatic change with cold temperatures and draughts being especially dangerous.
Reducing weaning stress
* Piglets can cope with one or two of these stressors, but more that this leads to poor growth for up to 14 days after weaning.
* The settling down period of pigs at weaning seems to be around 3 weeks.
* The major aim is to ensure pigs are eating adequate amounts of correctly balanced dry feed before weaning. Flavour and physical form of this feed is important to encourage high intake.
* Getting the pigs used to the lower temperature of the fattening accommodation is important. The sow's nest is around 28 C and they have to get used to temperature in the growing pens of 19C and eventually below this.
* Avoid erratic temperatures, as this will cause pigs to huddle and fight for positions to keep warm.
* Provide adequate trough space, again to stop intense competition and fighting.
* Adequate lying space and a comfortable bed are important as growing pigs in intensive housing spend around 60-70% of their time resting/sleeping. Constant standing or restlessness will lead to fatigue and poor performance.
Behaviour of growing pigs
* Poor growth and poor feed conversion inevitably will have a large behavioural component, especially in intensive systems.
* There are many factors involved in poor performance, and the skill is to determine which of them can be changed, with the welfare of the animal as well as profit very much in mind.
* The physical form of the diet is important. Pigs generally prefer wet to dry feeds, but dry feeds keep pigs occupied for longer.
* Scattered feed takes longer to eat than feed in troughs - again keeping pigs occupied for longer. It also saves the costs of troughs and fighting over trough space.
* Providing adequate trough space is of major importance, and prevents aggression and stress.
* Feed offered ad lib will keep pigs fully occupied but restriction is often needed to control growth and performance. For example pregnant sows, as opposed to lactating sows, need their diets restricted to prevent them getting too fat. Obesity lowers subseqent lactation performance.
* Pigs perform well on once-a-day feeding but feeding time is a good time to inspect pigs. Reduced appetite is a good early sign of potential health problems.
* So it's important in large intensive systems to use time saved on chores to be spent on animal inspection.
* This is especially the case as systems become even more automated where light levels are reduced. Increasing the lights for inspection will then activate the pigs, so there is a dilemma here.
* Increasing stocking density/pen is an easy way to get more throughputs in a pig unit. It can have devastating effects on pig welfare.
* This approach can cause a major upset in social order leading to bullying, tail and ear biting, disease, low feed conversion efficiency and low profits.
* Pigs highly stocked in pens spend more time feeding, standing and walking, and less time resting and sleeping.
* Contented pigs are recumbent for up to 19 hours a day. They drowse for 5 hours and sleep about 6-7 hours.
* Pen floors have an important role in pig comfort and behaviour. They should provide a good non-slip, non-abrasive surface with no protruding edges, and not harbour bacteria or parasites. They should be impervious to water and be easily cleaned.
* The pig's cloven hoof was designed to walk on earth, so slatted and perforated floors can cause damage and discomfort.
* When social orders have been sorted out by fighting, all that is needed is a loud grunt and a feint with the snout by the dominant pig to maintain this order.
Mixing growing pigs
* To reduce stress, mix pigs from 3-4 litters before weaning so they know eachother.
* Don't put newly mixed pigs in too large a pen, as they'll stay in their original groups, they'll not mix and they'll fight to defend territory.
* Put all the pigs to be mixed in a strange pen.
* Distract them by giving them straw or paper sacks to chew, or spray them with a strong-smelling fluid.
* Provide adequate trough space and feeding and drinking opportunities.
* Mix them at dusk when identification of rivals will be more difficult.
* Keep pigs in close weight ranges and remove any sick animals or any being severely molested.
* The fewer pigs there are in a single group, the tighter they can be packed.
* In general, vices are more common in large groups in large houses where social orders are more are more complex, and maintaining them causes more aggression and stress.
* Don't change diets at the time when pigs are mixed.
* Feed pigs ad lib diets for 2-3 weeks after mixing to avoid digestive upsets. Most producers feed ad lib for up to 10 weeks of age. Feed restriction should be delayed until the pigs have sorted out a new social order.
* Provide plenty of feed and trough space.
* Opinions on mixing sexes vary. Generally, if they have a good environment, sex does not cause problems. There may be some mounting in the last 4-5 weeks before slaughter.
Water for growing pigs
* Water is provided from bowls, metal nipples or metal drinking straws. Pigs are very quick to learn how to operate them.
* The watering device is a great plaything for bored pigs, so it will be subject to rubbing, nuzzling and chewing. Rigid construction is essential.
* Place the water source near a dunging area or drain or above a food trough because of spillage.
* Make the pigs have to reach up to get at nipples when drinking.
* Don't put water sources in positions where pigs will bruise themselves. Put them in a corner.
* Be consistent in the choice of drinkers provided.
1. Overlaying piglets by the sow
* This is a serious problem and accounts for 20% of all piglet deaths.
* The greatest risk to piglets is during the first week of life and especially during the first few hours of birth when a restless sow gets up and lies down a lot.
* The causes of high overlaying losses are complex and obviously involve the piglets and the sow. It's often difficult to apportion blame.
Factors in the sow:
* Previous experience
* Age
* Breed and strain
* Lameness
* Leg and joint problems
* Obesity
* Skin parasites
* Mastitis and udder problems
Factors in the piglet.
Piglets that are most likely to be crushed are usually one of the following:
* Dull
* Weak
* Inactive
* Uncoordinated
* Suffer from coma
* Chilled
* Starved
* Have very low birth weights
* Have very high birth weights
* Are runts from litters
* Have splayed legs
Possible cures/Prevention
* Provide a heat lamp in an area protected from the sow to attract the piglets away from her after suckling.
* Place highly palatable feed pellets near the lamp to start the piglets eating.
* This is most easily organised when the sow farrows in a crate, rather than free in a hut or pen. Sows usually lie with their teats towards the heat lamp.
* Farrowing pens should all have rails about 200mm from the floor and 200mm from the wall.
* Cull sows that persistently show this behaviour.
2. Savaging piglets by the sow
* This is more common in inexperienced gilts with their first litter than in sows.
* A sow may snap and injure an odd piglet, but seldom savages the whole litter.
* The first piglet born is most likely to be savaged as it seems that the sow is frightened by it's movement and high-pitched squeak, associated with the birth process. Usually after the sow has sniffed the piglet, all is well.
* Most sows accept human presence at birth, but strangers of unfamiliar noises may upset and frighten the sow and she may savage some piglets.
* Sows that savage litters without very good reason are culled. Gilts may be given another chance but the fear is that the trait may be genetic and these animals should not be bred from.
Possible cures/Prevention
* Check that the cause was not a "one-off" such as fright or panic and make sure it is not repeated.
* Cull any female that shows the vice more than once.
* Check the genetics of the female incase it could be an inherited trait.
3. Stress in pigs
Many factors have been identified as the causes of stress in pigs. These are all products of bad husbandry and/or poor stockpersonship:
* Chilling
* Overheating
* Physical injury
* Poor sanitation
* Poor ventilation
* Overcrowding
* Bullying
* Dampness and draughts
* Genetic makeup
* Weaning
* Castration
* Lack of feed and water
* Nutritional deficiencies
* Internal and external parasites
* Disease
* Loss of appetite
* Noise
Possible cures/Prevention
* Try to sort out which of the above is the main cause and change the management to avoid future problems.
* Veterinary advice should be part of any changes.
4. Aggression - fighting in pigs
* Aggression in pigs has been classified into three kinds - acute, chronic and abnormal.
* "Acute" - fighting to establish a social order, especially when strange pigs are mixed.
* "Chronic" - fighting to maintain an established order.
* "Abnormal" - serious fighting that has very big economic implications.
* Tail biting.
* Ear biting.
* Cannibalism.
* Sudden savaging of a group member.
* Sows attacking each other.
* Sows savaging their young.
* Domestic pigs unlike wild pigs are kept in monocaste social groups of the same sex, age and size. This may in fact make it harder and more stressful for pigs to form stable social groups when the combatants are physically equal.
* Newly-acquainted pigs seem to fight for 24-48 hours to establish a linear dominance hierarchy, usually with the largest pig at the top and the smallest at the bottom. Note that it may not always be the biggest pig that becomes the top dominant animal. Once this is established, fighting is greatly reduced but not totally eliminated.
* When unfamiliar pigs are mixed, fighting seems to start the feed runs out.
* Fighting will nearly always occur when a pig removed for treatment is returned to the group. Top rank pigs can be returned without problems but any pigs lower in the social order will need to be returned before about a maximum of 3 days. The key to success is to know what the pig's social rank is before removing it and acting accordingly
Possible cures/Prevention
* Check the environment to make sure it is not too hot or too cold, that the air is fresh and that the pigs have a dry warm area to rest.
* Provide plenty of feeding and watering space. Hunger is often the cause of aggressive biting which can blow up into more serious aggression.
* Make sure pigs are all of similar size in the group.
* Provide bedding for newly mixed pigs to chew - at least for a period of about 1½ hours.
* If pigs are removed from their group for any reason, try to put them back before 3 days. If they are the smaller members of the group, put them back sooner and watch that they are not victimised.
5. Tail biting and possible causes
* This has developed since pigs were kept intensively.
* Usually starts 4-22 days after weaning.
* May be associated with ear biting.
* There are many possible causes are put forward yet little is still known about it. The so-called "solution" is seen as removing the tail which should not be done before the causes are determined and rectified.
Causes are usually:
* Behavioural - boredom, breakdown of dominance order or excess social contact.
* Nutritional - low fibre, low bulk, and deficiencies of a whole range of nutrients.
* Environmental - poor ventilation leading to high humidity, high temperatures, high ammonia and carbon dioxide, lack of bedding, and not enough feed or watering points.
* Disease - skin mange, internal parasites and various infections.
* Teething problems.
Possible cures/Prevention
* Check ventilation to prevent build up of foul air.
* Check pigs are not too cold (below 15C) and not too hot (above 28C).
* Remove badly bitten pigs from the group and isolate them.
* Daub the tails with Stockholm tar, creosote, disinfectant, lice of mange wash as a repellant.
* Provide toys - hanging chains, paper sacks, straw, balls, stone filled cans, or anything you can think of to provide occupational therapy and keep the pigs busy.
* Reduce the stocking rate in the pens - don't exceed 120kg live weight/m2 of floor space.
* Group pigs on the basis of size. Often a small pig in a group is the aggressor and not the biggest one.
* Move the problem pigs to another pen. This may fix the problem, or it can make them worse!
* Change the feeding system or the physical form of the feed. For example moving from meal to pellets may help, or the reverse may work.
* Keep mixing of pigs to a minimum as it may trigger fighting and make the problem worse.
* Dock about 2cm from the piglet's tail at birth.
* Change from flop-eared to prick-eared breeds as the incidence in the latter is sometimes less.
6. Cannibalism
* This may develop from tail biting.
* It often starts by pigs attacking wounds, prolapsed rectums, sick pigs and the like.
* Pigs in a pen will chase and attack the suffering pig till it is killed - when they continue their cannibalism.
* The attacked pig must be removed.
* The remaining pigs must have a change to their environment - eg provide straw, altering the temperature, providing toys.
Possible cures/Prevention
* See suggestions for tail biting.
7. Gastric ulcers
* These increase as pigs are kept more intensively - clearly a stress induced problem.
Possible cures/Prevention
* Try to find the cause and remove it - but may not be easy.
* Investigate infections, intoxication, stress, gastric acidity, digestive upsets, hormones, seasonal changes, feeding methods (especially ad lib systems), housing and many more.
8. Nose rubbing (belly rubbing)
* Weaned pigs may develop the habit of nuzzling other pigs as they lie resting.
* It may appear is if they are navel sucking but it's more likely to be nuzzling in the flank area and along the teat line.
* It may be accompanied by nursing grunts.
* Persistent rubbing may cause ulcers and destruction of the tissue (necrosis).
Possible cures/Prevention
* This is powerful thrusting by dominant pigs, after weaning, eg by high-rank males.
* It occurs sporadically and can spread quickly through a group, and trigger off other vices like tail and ear biting.
* The solution is to change environmental factors till you find something that does the trick.
By Dr Clive Dalton
* Persistent rubbing may cause ulcers and destruction of the tissue (necrosis).
Possible cures/Prevention
* This is powerful thrusting by dominant pigs, after weaning, eg by high-rank males.
* It occurs sporadically and can spread quickly through a group, and trigger off other vices like tail and ear biting.
* The solution is to change environmental factors till you find something that does the trick.
By Dr Clive Dalton
No comments:
Post a Comment
We are happy for your interaction with us
VET 2 DAY