UNIT 15: Breeding and Management in Pigs

This unit covers essential aspects of pig farming, from breeding cycles and piglet care to housing, feeding, and disease protection.

Breeding in Pigs

Pig breeding involves several key stages: mating, gestation, farrowing (giving birth), rearing piglets, castration, and weaning.

1. Mating

• Sow Selection: Sows should be selected for breeding around 3 months of age, but mating should commence between 6 to 9 months of age.
• Risks of Mating Young Sows:
  • Small litters.
  • Problems during birth (dystocia).
  • Loss of piglets at birth.
  • Poor growth of the sow herself.
• Mating Old Sows: Should be done 4 days after weaning.
• Heat Period (Oestrus) Observation: Farmers should observe signs of heat in sows for two to three days, occurring approximately every three weeks.
• Signs of Heat in a Sow:
  • Vulva becomes red and swollen.
  • Restlessness.
  • Occasional grunting.
  • Loss of appetite.
  • Mucous discharge from the vulva.
  • Stops moving when others mount it.
  • Sows start mounting other sows.
• Indication of Pregnancy: The sow stops showing these heat signs.
• Selecting Young Sows for Breeding:
  • Should have at least 12 normal teats.
  • Should be the heaviest of their litter.
  • Should have strong legs and walk well.
  • Their parents should exhibit good breeding characteristics.

2. Flushing

• Definition: Providing protein-rich feed to sows shortly before mating.
• Importance:
  • To improve fertility.
  • To increase litter size.

3. Steaming Up

• Definition: Giving protein-rich feed to pregnant sows a few weeks before giving birth.
• Importance:
  • Ensures strong and healthy piglets.
  • Promotes the growth and development of mammary glands for milk production.
  • Improves the health of sows, reducing birth complications.

4. Gestation (Pregnancy)

• Definition: The period between conception and farrowing.
• Duration: In pigs, gestation lasts 112–115 days (approximately 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days).

5. Farrowing (Parturition)

• Definition: The act of giving birth in pigs.
• Signs of Farrowing:
  • Udder appears much redder and swollen.
  • White, clear discharge from teats.
  • Restlessness, scraping floor with front legs, and collecting bedding to a corner.
  • Loss of appetite.
  • Enlarged and red vulva.
  • Slackening muscles on either side of the tail.
  • Piglets start coming out in an enclosed membrane which breaks.
  • The afterbirth is expelled about one hour after the birth of the last piglet.
• Preparation for Farrowing:
  • Deworm the sow.
  • Disinfect and keep the farrowing pen clean.
  • Move the sow to the farrowing pen 5–7 days before farrowing.
  • Create a creep area that is well-lighted and warm for piglets.
  • Feed the sow with bran two days before farrowing.
  • Provide clean water.
• During Farrowing:
  • Farrowing typically takes 2-4 hours. Monitor the sow.
  • If no piglet emerges for an extended period, seek veterinary assistance.
  • Attendants should assist with gloves and in a clean environment.
  • Piglets should be injected with iron to prevent anemia.
  • If the sow dies, piglets should be introduced to a foster mother.
• Care After Farrowing:
  • Remove mucus from piglets’ mouths and nostrils to ensure proper breathing.
  • Keep piglets in a safe, warm area away from the mother during parturition.
  • Tie, cut, and disinfect navel cords with iodine solution.
  • Weigh piglets and keep records.
  • Record the number of piglets born.
  • Place piglets in an infra-red lighted area for warmth.

6. Rearing Piglets

• Suckling Piglets:
  • The number of piglets usually matches the number of teats.
  • If there are more piglets than teats, transfer excess to a foster mother.
• Feeding Colostrum:
  • Definition: The first milk from the mother immediately after giving birth.
  • Importance: Rich in proteins and Vitamin A, boosting the piglets’ immunity.
• Teeth Trimming or Clipping:
  • Description: Sharp “needle” teeth are cut with pliers.
  • Importance:
    • To prevent piglets from hurting the mother’s teats during suckling.
    • To prevent piglets from injuring each other.
    • To make piglets docile and easier to handle.
    • To prevent piglets from injuring the farmer during handling.
• Common Problems Affecting Piglets:
  • Being Crushed by Mother: Prevented by using farrowing crates and guard rails in the farrowing pen.
  • Chilling (Very Cold Weather): Prevented by using infra-red bulbs and heaters for warmth.
  • Piglet Anemia: Prevented by providing iron supplements (e.g., iron paste smeared on sow’s teats or injectable iron solution).
• Creep Feeding:
  • Definition: Introducing a solid diet to piglets while they are still suckling to prepare their digestive system for weaning.
  • Importance:
    • Promotes the development of the digestive system.
    • Prepares piglets for successful weaning.
• Qualities of a Good Creep Feed:
  • Highly digestible.
  • High in energy content.
  • Highly palatable.
  • High in crude protein content.
  • Mineral-rich (especially iron and calcium).
  • Rich in Vitamin A, B complex, and D.

7. Castration

• Definition: The surgical process of removing testes from male piglets not selected for breeding, usually for fattening.
• Methods:
  • Open Castration: Testicles are surgically cut open with a scalpel blade.
  • Closed Castration: Testes are crushed using a tool like a “buddizzo” or by applying an elastic rubber band to squeeze and cut the spermatic cord.
• Timing: Should be done within the first two weeks of the piglets’ life.
• Procedures:
  • Organize equipment: scalpel, disinfectant, cotton wool.
  • Restrain the piglet appropriately.
  • Squeeze and hold the testes with one hand.
  • Disinfect the scrotal surface.
  • Cut open the scrotum with a scalpel.
  • Squeeze out the testis through the cut.
  • Use a scalpel to cut the spermatic cord.
  • Repeat for the other testis.
  • Disinfect the wound.
  • Release the piglet.
• Advantages of Castration:
  • Controls unplanned breeding.
  • Helps control reproductive diseases in pigs.
  • Makes the piglet docile and easier to handle.
  • Piglets produce higher quality pork (eliminates boar taint).

8. Weaning

• Definition: The gradual introduction of solid feeds to piglets and the gradual reduction of milk consumption from the sow.
• Weaning Processes:
  • Old Weaning System (8 weeks): A natural system where milk production gradually decreases, and solid feeds provide 70-80% of nutritional requirements.
  • Recent Weaning System (4-8 weeks): Farmers separate piglets from their mothers at 4-6 weeks of age. Solid feed should provide at least 50-60% of their nutritional requirements.
• Factors to Consider When Weaning:
  • Piglet immunity.
  • Post-weaning fertility of the sow.
  • Availability of a skilled attendant to care for the piglets.
  • Availability of proper weaning facilities.
  • Feed costs.
• Advantages of Early Weaning:
  • Better disease control.
  • Achieves uniform growth of piglets.
  • Ensures better sow productivity (sow can be bred again sooner).
• Disadvantages of Very Early Weaning:
  • Can delay sow fertility.
  • Requires very competent and dedicated attendants.
  • Requires very special facilities (e.g., specialized temperature-controlled environments).
• Requirements for Satisfactory Weaning:
  • Minimize distress (e.g., keeping piglets from the same litter together).
  • Conducive physical environment (appropriate housing conditions).
  • Proper feeding to meet the nutritional requirements of weaned piglets.

Qualities of a Good Pig House (Piggery)

A piggery is the house or pen for pigs.

Parts of a Piggery:

• Farrowing Pen: Special room for farrowing, ensuring piglet safety from crushing, chill, and other unfavorable conditions.
• Weaner’s Pen: Used for keeping weaned piglets, with dedicated feeding, watering, and resting sections.
• Boar Pen: Where breeding boars are kept, providing space for sows to be served during the breeding season.
• Gilt’s Pen: Used for keeping young female pigs (gilts) in readiness for mating.
• Other Parts: Feed store, records room, running and wallowing yard (for dunging, sunbathing, and cooling).
• Wallowing Yard: Pigs enjoy rolling in mud for:
  • Cooling during hot weather.
  • Controlling sunburns in pigs with low pigmentation.
  • Helping to control external parasites.
• Water Troughs or Drinking Nipples: Water points for pigs.

Qualities of a Good Piggery:

• Easy to clean.
• Well lit.
• Floor should drain away urine and water effectively.
• Should be dry, ensured by:
  • A leak-proof roof.
  • Good drainage.
• Farrowing pens should have guard rails to protect piglets.

Ideal Requirements for a Good Piggery:

• Located on high and slightly sloping ground to avoid flooding during rainy season.
• Open and well ventilated.
• Near a reliable water supply.
• Roof’s longest slope should be against the prevailing wind and rain for protection.
• Rough (but not excessively rough) floor is good for pigs to scratch themselves.
• Grass-thatched roof is beneficial due to minimal temperature variations (cool in dry season, warm in cold season).

Maintenance of a Piggery Unit:

• Clean regularly.
• Change bedding regularly.
• Inspect and repair any broken parts.
• Keep it dry.

Feeding in Pigs

Pigs require a balanced diet tailored to their age, size, and purpose of keeping.

• Piglet Stage (10 days – 8 weeks):
  • Receive milk from the mother.
  • Creep feed is introduced from the 10th day as mother’s milk and initial iron reserves become insufficient.
  • Piglets should be separated by age and health due to varying nutritional needs.
• Weaner’s Stage (8 weeks to 50kg):
  • Fed on weaner’s feed.
  • Recently weaned piglets need protein-rich feed (around 20% protein) for rapid growth.
  • Protein content can be reduced to about 13% by 3 months of age.
  • Require balanced feeds with energy, proteins, vitamins, and minerals.
• Fattener’s Stage (50kg to Market Weight):
  • Provided with pig finisher or fattener’s meal to reach market weight efficiently.
• Lactating Sows and Piglets:
  • Milk or milk products, animal or fish meal should be fed in appropriate proportions to lactating sows and their piglets.
  • Recently weaned piglets can also receive some for the first few weeks after weaning.

Protecting Pigs from Diseases and Parasites

Common Parasites of Pigs:

1. Roundworms (Ascaris suum):
   • Description: Common internal parasites living in the small intestines.
   • Life Cycle: Eggs laid in host, passed via feces; hatch on ground into infective larvae (encyst) in ~10 days; larvae picked up by grazing animals; bore through intestinal walls into bloodstream, travel to liver then lungs; coughed up and re-swallowed; develop into adult worms in small intestines, where mating and egg-laying occur.
   • Signs/Symptoms: Stunted growth, scours (diarrhea), anemia, pot belly, diarrhea, constipation.
   • Control:
     • Avoid rearing pigs in muddy environments.
     • Practice zero grazing to break the life cycle (though text mentions ticks, context implies roundworms).
     • Regularly deworm pigs with appropriate drugs.
2. Whipworms (Trichuris suis):
   • Description: Internal parasite living in the alimentary canal.
   • Signs/Symptoms: Loss of appetite, blood-stained and mucous diarrhea, dehydration, death.
   • Control:
     • Raise pigs in confinement.
     • Deworm pigs with appropriate drugs.
3. Mange (Sarcoptes scabiei):
   • Description: External parasite that lives on and burrows into the skin, feeding on body tissues.
   • Signs/Symptoms: Reddened and thickened skin, intense scratching.
   • Control:
     • Spray animals with acaricides.
     • Wash animals to maintain cleanliness.
4. Mites:
   • Description: External parasites that burrow into the skin, causing severe irritation and anemia.
5. Lice:
   • Description: External parasites that suck blood, causing anemia.

Common Diseases of Pigs:

1. African Swine Fever (ASF):
   • Cause: Iridovirus, transmitted by wild pigs, ticks, or contact with contaminated garbage.
   • Signs/Symptoms: Fever (40-41°C), difficult breathing, constipation followed by blood-stained diarrhea, lack of nervous system coordination, coughing and vomiting, watery eye discharge.
   • Control:
     • Keep wild pigs away.
     • Do not feed pigs garbage.
     • Slaughter and properly dispose of carcasses of sick animals.
     • Quarantine all suspected animals.
2. Pneumonia:
   • Cause: Bacterium (Mycoplasma mycoides), viruses, dust, presence of worms in lungs.
   • Predisposing Factors: Poor ventilation, overcrowding, young age (piglets are prone), damp and chilly conditions in the pig house.
   • Signs/Symptoms: Difficult breathing, nasal discharge, dullness, loss of appetite, coughing after exercise, fever.
   • Control:
     • Keep piglet house warm, dry, and clean.
     • Treat promptly with antibiotics.
     • Avoid overcrowding.
     • Ensure proper ventilation.
3. Piglet Scours (Colibacillosis or White Scours):
   • Cause: Bacterium Escherichia coli entering the small intestines during the first week of birth.
   • Predisposing Factors: Damp and chilly conditions, poor feeding practices (overfeeding, irregular feeding, lack of colostrum), abrupt temperature changes, Vitamin A deficiency.
   • Signs/Symptoms: White or yellowish diarrhea with a pungent smell, rapid dehydration, extreme sensitivity to cold, dullness, undigested milk curds, bloody and mucous-stained feces, dirty tails and back of thighs, loss of appetite.
   • Control:
     • Keep piggery clean and dry.
     • Observe strict hygiene during farrowing.
4. Piglet Anemia:
   • Cause: Low levels of red blood cells due to insufficient iron supply.
   • Signs/Symptoms: Pale skin, rapid breathing, sometimes slight yellowish (jaundiced) appearance, pale mucous membranes of the eyes, scours, sloppy diarrhea, hemorrhage, general body weakness.
   • Control:
     • Inject piglets with iron in the first week of birth.
     • Give iron pastes to piglets.

General Control and Prevention of Diseases and Parasites in Pigs:

• Keep the pig house clean regularly.
• Disinfect the pig house to kill disease-causing organisms.
• Clean and disinfect food and water troughs.
• Deworm pigs regularly to control internal parasites.
• Spray animals with chemicals (acaricides) to kill external parasites.
• Isolate sick pigs promptly to prevent disease spread.
• Administer iron injections to control anemia in piglets.
• Treat sick pigs in time with proper drugs.
• Keep stray pigs away from the farm to avoid disease introduction.
• Use a footbath at the entry of a pig house to prevent tracking in diseases.
• Cull and properly dispose of carcasses of diseased animals.
• Vaccinate animals regularly against common diseases.