One of the most important aspects of pig production is getting young piglets off to a good start. For this reason it is essential that the management and stockmanship of a farm is maintained at the highest possible standards. The pictures below illustrate some of the critical operations required to achieve this.

The young piglets shortly after birth need to be kept at a temperature close to 30 degrees centigrade and are kept warm under an infra red lamp. Bedding also helps to keep them warm and create their own microenvironment. Notice how the piglets huddle together, this is a natural form of behaviour.

Feeding time. The crate that the mother pig (sow) lives in for the first few weeks of the piglets' life prevents the sow rolling over and crushing the young piglets to death. For the first two or three days piglets are vulnerable as they weigh just over a kilo compared with the sow at 250 kg.

Young piglets at feeding time. After the first two days of life, piglets have their own teatlet that they suckle from. A good sow will have 14 functional teats. Milk yield tends to be higher at the front of the udder compared with the back. Piglets are normally weaned at around 4 weeks of age which is an optimum time for both the welfare of the sow and the piglets.

After weaning the sow dries off. Sows normally come on heat (exhibit oestrous) within a week. They are then mated either naturally with a boar or with artificial insemination (AI) or with a combination of both.

At feeding time sows can either collect feed automatically from a feeder or they can be fed on an individual basis as in the picture. The individual feeder allows the sow to eat without interference and stress from her pen mates and provides the farmer with a good opportunity to check her health. The farmer may also check whether the sows are pregant using the ultrasonic microphone illustrated.

Pregnancy testing; positive readings can be obtained from 28 days after mating.

Further reading for Pigs - Production cycle

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