It is necessary to adjust the early feeding management of newly weaned piglets.

The main task of nursing is to let weaned piglets pass weaning period smoothly, develop good behavior norms such as fixed feeding, fixed sleeping, fixed excretion, etc., and maintain ideal growth rate. The key to a smooth transition to weaning lies in nutrition and feeding. Due to weaning, loss of sow shelter and rations, coupled with behavioral disturbances such as pen separation and gregarious, piglets are in a state of turbulence and stress. 4 weeks old weaning, digestive system, etc. are not fully developed, need time to adjust. The stress of weaning hinders the development of piglet digestion and absorption system, so nutritional care is very important.

piglet nursery

Lactation, feeding, intestinal development:

The purpose of early supplementary feeding is to make piglets adapt to the feed environment as soon as possible after weaning, familiar with the shape and taste of feed, and improve the feed intake after weaning. At about 14 days of age, piglets begin to produce a small amount of hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes in their stomachs. Therefore, piglets can use a disc feed trough about 2 weeks after birth to add a small amount of starter feed and let them learn to eat slowly. Once you eat the opening feed, the acid and enzyme in the stomach will increase rapidly, accelerate the decomposition and absorption of feed, and there will be acid in the stomach, and harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli will not be propagated.

After weaning and feeding, the food in the stomach will stimulate the secretion of new digestive juice, and the piglets will digest the food normally, absorb nutrients and adapt to the nursery environment. If piglets do not adapt to the nursing environment after weaning, eat very little feed, the secretion of digestive juice such as gastric acid decreases, the acidity in the stomach decreases, and the harmful bacteria in the intestinal tract multiply, eventually leading to malnutrition, emaciation and even death of piglets.

Population effects:

Pigs like to live in groups, are accustomed to the concentrated feeding mode of sows, like to compete, and will imitate the behavior of pigs in the same pen, including feeding, sleeping and excretion. Therefore, when pigs arrive at the nursery, conditions are created for them to feed at the same time. When they hear or see other pigs arching feed from the trough, they will be tempted to increase their feed intake.

Feeding frequency and feed form:

After birth, the sow will call the piglets to suck milk about every 1 hour, and once weaned, the piglets leave the sow and live independently to find their own feed and water, so they must be trained as soon as possible. At the beginning, it is necessary to simulate the habit of lactation, feed once every 1 hour (gradually increase the interval time), and knock the trough to form conditioned reflex and develop good behavior habits. Feed morphology, from liquid milk to solid feed, need to transition. Therefore, in the piglet training stage, a small amount of water can be added to the feed, and the wet mix will gradually transition to powder and granular feed.

Feed freshness:

Because piglet just weaned, feed to a small number of times, ensure that pigs at any time have feed intake at the same time eliminate waste. If a large amount of feed is thrown into the feed trough at one time, the saliva flowing out of the mouth of the piglet will make the feed agglomerate and mildew, affect the freshness of the feed and cause intestinal diseases of the piglet. In addition, after the piglet chews, there will be a lot of powder left. Powder coating on feed can lead to rejection by piglets. Therefore, feed should be sufficient and not wasted.