MANAGEMENT
PIH-18
pork industry handbook
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE • PURDUE UNIVERSITY • WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA
Baby Pig Management—Birth to Weaning
Authors
Dennis O. Liptrap, University of Kentucky
James H. Bailey, D.V.M., South Dakota State University
James O’Neal, University of Tennessee
Reviewers
Gerald Beattie, Sumner, Nebraska
Gene Gibson, University of Idaho
Introduction
If the sow is considered a pig manufacturing unit, then improved management at farrowing and on through weaning will result in more pigs weaned per sow per year. On the average, producers lose more than 25% of the live pigs farrowed before they are weaned. Many of these deaths occur in the first few days after birth. Table 1 summarizes the causes of baby pig losses from 58 litters. More than 42% of the live pigs lost before weaning died from starvation or crushing, and if one includes the pigs that weighed under 1.8 lb. at birth, 55% of the losses were from these three causes. Good management can reduce these deaths and result in weaning 2 or more additional pigs per sow per year.
This fact sheet describes various management practices that should result in a greater number of pigs weaned per litter. Age divisions of birth to 3 days, 3 days to 3 weeks, and 3 weeks to weaning are considered.

Birth to 3 Days
Research summaries report that 65% of all post-farrowing deaths occur by the time the litter is 4 days old. Therefore, extra time and management spent on a newborn litter can pay big dividends in more pigs saved per litter. The producer attempting to minimize labor input to the hog enterprise should be careful about reducing labor in the farrowing house. Many pigs die that could be saved with a little tender loving care.

One management factor that will save pigs is to be present at farrowing. This is especially true if the farrowing quarters are not warm enough to prevent chilling the newborn pigs. The baby pig should have assistance in removing mucus from its mouth, and in starting to breathe. It should be wiped dry, be placed under the supplemental heat source, and be assisted in nursing for the first time. The attendant can assist with a difficult or prolonged birth that might otherwise result in stillborn pigs.

In many large hog operations with multiple farrowing programs, it may not be possible or practical to attend the sow at farrowing. In these cases the single most important factor in saving more pigs is to raise air temperature in the farrowing house to prevent chilling of the newborn pigs, especially in slotted floor houses. A room air temperature of 70-75 F. will allow the newborn pig to seek the extra warmth of the creep area before chilling. The creep area needs to be zone heated (heat lamps, gas brooders, and/or heat in floor) to a temperature of 85-95 F. Make sure zone heat is provided before the sow starts farrowing. Ventilation rates also must be controlled to remove moisture without causing drafts on the pigs. Precise control of air movement and temperature is very important in a slotted floor house
Table 1. Causes of baby pig losses in 58 litters.*
Causes of death	Number	% total deaths
Stillbirths	81	37.9
Crushing or injury	29	13.6
Starvation	26	12.1
Killed ^	19	8.9
Navel hemorrhage	15	7.0
Enteritis	15	7.0
Myoclonia congenita (shakers)	6	2.8
Intestinal impaction	5	2.3
Iron toxicosis	3	1.4
Hernia following castration	3	1.4
No diagnosis	12	5.6
	214	100.0
*Preston and Mayrose, Modern Veterinary Practice, 44		
(1963):48.		
^Pigs weighing 1.8 lb. or less at birth were killed.		
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U. S. Department of Agricluture Cooperating. H. G. Diesslin, Director, West Lafayette, Ind. Issued in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914. It is the policy of the Cooperative Extension Service of Purdue University that all persons shall have equal opportunity and access to its programs and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex or national origin.