07-01-2022, 08:35 PM
Note the following about ur piglets from day 1:
▪︎Activity: They should always be active and playful. Whenever they finish sucking,they should sleep off, not keep crying as if they are hungry
▪︎Size: They must gain weight and look bigger daily, not lose weight. The moment u discover they start losing weight, find out the problem immediately.... is it poor lactation?? Diarrhoea?? Illness??
▪︎Skin tone: Their skin should always be smooth, clear and fine. Once the skin starts becoming leathery like an old man's and is wrinkled unnecessarily, dehydration has set in from a complication.... death is around the corner.
Pig farming, I always say, is 60% observation. Watch and vigorously attack immediately
Where lactation is a problem, act on the issue...... do you distribute piglets to other lactating sows?? Treat the sow affected while giving the piglets milk replacers till she takes over again??
Where scours (diarrhoea) is the issue, immediately attack with Tetracycline and Flagyl mixed in water (~1cap,1tab,1ml per piglet) for three days till the scours end
Avoid bathing them directly for the first week (if you can), especially in cold weather. If u can, get a corner for them and put wood shavings so they can always go and keep warm.
In all, keep their room tidy and dry. The cleaner the environment, the more difficult it will be for unnecessary infection to affect them
By the end of day 7, exactly, piglets start picking. U can go the creep feed way. We don't do creep feed; the energy to expend in creating space for them and compounding a different feed type, has proven to be unnecessarily cumbersome for us, so the trick for us is to just ensure that the sow's feed is as rich as fatteners diet; then they pick and grow appropriately
If u can feed your sow well, ensure that your piglets are healthy and pick rich feed, they should add around 1.5 to 2kg weekly and by the end of week 5, they should have a attained an average weight of 7kg
Maximum, that weight should be attained in week 6, no later
Wean at 7kg. But the best part is if u can get 7kg in 5 or 6 weeks. Piglets at that weight convert better and reach market weight faster.
In Nigeria, the average weaning weight is 4kg at 8 weeks..... so poor and it creates weaners that have a hard time adjusting to life, especially if they have to travel across state lines to new farms.
So note tonight that u don't wean by age, you should wean by weight. Knowing that u have to wean by weight will push u to shorten the wait time to get the weight. At the beginning of our quest, we were doing it in 8 weeks. We shortened to 6 weeks, we are doing 5 weeks and I am looking for ways to push it down to 4 weeks.
Weigh ur piglets every week till u wean so u can make adjustments as necessary to their feed and lifestyle. And keep weighing weekly till the weaners hit 25kg. That is u weigh even after weaning to ensure that growth is upward, not stagnant or reversing
Wean before afternoon..... the earlier, the better so u can watch them for a better part of the day. Upon weaning, immediately give
1ml LA Oxytetracycline
1ml iron
1ml multivite
All as injection, not oral anymore
Next day, give 0.5ml Levamisol dewormer in the morning before feeding them..... deworm the sows same time to prepare them for recrossing in a few days.
Third day, give the weaners 0.5ml Ivermectin subcutaneous in the morning and a few hours later give 1ml multivite injection
Your weaners are ready for life and optimum conversion.
If you will castrate, u can castrate anytime from birth till a week after weaning. Though there isn't an age limit where castration becomes impossible to perform
▪︎Activity: They should always be active and playful. Whenever they finish sucking,they should sleep off, not keep crying as if they are hungry
▪︎Size: They must gain weight and look bigger daily, not lose weight. The moment u discover they start losing weight, find out the problem immediately.... is it poor lactation?? Diarrhoea?? Illness??
▪︎Skin tone: Their skin should always be smooth, clear and fine. Once the skin starts becoming leathery like an old man's and is wrinkled unnecessarily, dehydration has set in from a complication.... death is around the corner.
Pig farming, I always say, is 60% observation. Watch and vigorously attack immediately
Where lactation is a problem, act on the issue...... do you distribute piglets to other lactating sows?? Treat the sow affected while giving the piglets milk replacers till she takes over again??
Where scours (diarrhoea) is the issue, immediately attack with Tetracycline and Flagyl mixed in water (~1cap,1tab,1ml per piglet) for three days till the scours end
Avoid bathing them directly for the first week (if you can), especially in cold weather. If u can, get a corner for them and put wood shavings so they can always go and keep warm.
In all, keep their room tidy and dry. The cleaner the environment, the more difficult it will be for unnecessary infection to affect them
By the end of day 7, exactly, piglets start picking. U can go the creep feed way. We don't do creep feed; the energy to expend in creating space for them and compounding a different feed type, has proven to be unnecessarily cumbersome for us, so the trick for us is to just ensure that the sow's feed is as rich as fatteners diet; then they pick and grow appropriately
If u can feed your sow well, ensure that your piglets are healthy and pick rich feed, they should add around 1.5 to 2kg weekly and by the end of week 5, they should have a attained an average weight of 7kg
Maximum, that weight should be attained in week 6, no later
Wean at 7kg. But the best part is if u can get 7kg in 5 or 6 weeks. Piglets at that weight convert better and reach market weight faster.
In Nigeria, the average weaning weight is 4kg at 8 weeks..... so poor and it creates weaners that have a hard time adjusting to life, especially if they have to travel across state lines to new farms.
So note tonight that u don't wean by age, you should wean by weight. Knowing that u have to wean by weight will push u to shorten the wait time to get the weight. At the beginning of our quest, we were doing it in 8 weeks. We shortened to 6 weeks, we are doing 5 weeks and I am looking for ways to push it down to 4 weeks.
Weigh ur piglets every week till u wean so u can make adjustments as necessary to their feed and lifestyle. And keep weighing weekly till the weaners hit 25kg. That is u weigh even after weaning to ensure that growth is upward, not stagnant or reversing
Wean before afternoon..... the earlier, the better so u can watch them for a better part of the day. Upon weaning, immediately give
1ml LA Oxytetracycline
1ml iron
1ml multivite
All as injection, not oral anymore
Next day, give 0.5ml Levamisol dewormer in the morning before feeding them..... deworm the sows same time to prepare them for recrossing in a few days.
Third day, give the weaners 0.5ml Ivermectin subcutaneous in the morning and a few hours later give 1ml multivite injection
Your weaners are ready for life and optimum conversion.
If you will castrate, u can castrate anytime from birth till a week after weaning. Though there isn't an age limit where castration becomes impossible to perform