4 – Farrowing Flashcards
Why house farrowing sows in crates?
- Enables INDIVIDUAL sow feeding
- Reduce preweaning mortality
- Allows for micro-environment for piglets
- Does NOT accommodate nesting behaviour
Micro-environment for piglets
- Room: 18-19 degrees C
- Piglet creep: 25 degree C at farrowing
o Gradually reduced
Farrowing crate requirements
- Need enough room to move around
- Can’t touch both sides of crate
- Can’t be in them more than 6 weeks in any one reproductive period
- Piglets must have a space to retreat
Standard disease control measures: MINIMUM
- SANITATION: wash(disinfectants can’t penetrate), disinfect, dry rooms prior to entry
- Rooms generally ALL-IN-ALL OUT
- Continuous flow (CF) is less common
- *prophylactic meds to all piglets at birth or during lactation is DISCOURAGED (depends on barn)
Continuous flow is less common and seen mainly in
- Backyard or hobby farms
- ‘overflow’ rooms
Pre-farrowing procedures
- *cortisol surge triggers farrowing
- Transfer sows to farrowing room at gestation d110-112
- Reduce FEED intake when farrowing is imminent
- SCRAPE manure behind sows daily
- Raise room temperature to 21-23 degree C for farrowing
Vaccinate dam
- Protection of post-natal litter
- Enhance colostrum quality and passive immunity
- Lactational IgA and IgG (re-secreted)
Peri-parturient cortisol surge
- Natural rise in fetal cortisol required for FARROWING INDUCTION and MATURATION of fetal tissue
Effects of cortisol on fetus
- Liver: glycogen deposition
- GIT: antibody absorption
- Lung: surfactant production
- Maturation of skeletal muscle
Advantages of farrowing induction
- Staff presence at farrowing to facilitate CROSS FOSTERING and NEONATAL CARE
- Reduce STILL BIRTH piglets
- Induce STRAGGLER SOWS over 116d gestation (maintain AIAO farrowing groups)
Disadvantages of farrowing induction
- Risk of premature delivery
Products used for farrowing induction
- Natural or synthetic prostaglandin F2-alpha
o Lutalyse
o Plante
Routes of administration for farrowing induction
- IM neck (label claim)
- Vulvomucosal
- Lateral vulvar
- Peri-anal
- Abdominal oblique
Dosing schedule of farrowing induction
- Two ½ dose injections 6 hrs apart (8am, 2pm) to farrow following morning
Signs of impending parturition
- Secrete MILK
- NESTING behaviour, restlessness
- Reduced FEED INTAKE
- Raised rectal temp
Parturition ‘timing’ (length and when piglets are expelled)
- 4.5 hrs (+/- 2.5 hrs)
- Piglets expelled every 25 mins
- Placenta (2 horns) generally expelled after last piglet
Fetal placenta
- No exchange!
Stillbirth piglets (stillborns)
- Full term fetuses that are live until term, but die of hypoxia during a PROLONGED farrowing
- *6-8% of total born
Risk factors for stillborns
- Higher PARITY
- OVER-CONDITIONED (fat)
- Season (summer, HEAT)
- Higher BRITH ORDER (farrowing fatigue)
o More piglets=harder
Diagnosis of stillborn piglets
- Float lungs to differentiate between stillbirth from postnatal death
- *if float=postnatal death
Fetal mummification (mummies)
- Fetuses that die prior to term, but AFTER skeletal calcification begins (~gestation day 30)
- INSPISSATED REMAINS of fetal tissues
- Age determined by CROWN-RUMP LENGTH
- *1-2% of total born
Many causes of fetal mummification
- Infectious (ex. PPV, PRRSV)
- Non-infectious (ex. parity, litter size)
- *size matters=may provide clues to etiology