Newborn piglets - breeding at home

There are good profit opportunities in the livestock industry like pigs. And if you take up the direction associated with raising piglets for sale, you can hope to get a return in the near future. But do not wait for the piglets to be born, you need to worry about their health when they have not yet been born. Particular care should be taken for animals at the time of their birth and the first few days. Breeding piglets at home will seem difficult for beginners, but nevertheless the topic is interesting for livestock breeders.

Caring for newborn piglets

Experienced farmers know that raising piglets is not easy. Step-by-step tips will help you understand the intricacies of caring for newborn small pigs.

Before the first feeding of the newborn piglet, the mother's nipples are examined. If there are cracks, they should be washed with a weak solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. If everything is in order with the sow, the teats are simply washed with warm water and wiped dry. This simple action can save the piglet from infection, to which he is especially vulnerable in the first days of life.

Newborn piglets

Piglets are usually fed once every 1.5-2 hours if the sow is high-milk and the piglet eats its fill, or after 40-60 minutes if the pig has little milk.

A nursing mother should drink her fill. The drinker must always be filled with warm water (+ 10˚C). With its lack, the sow becomes aggressive, in such cases cannibalism is possible.

To prevent the sow from crushing her cubs in the first days of life, a special compartment is fenced off for them, which runs along the entire dwelling of the nursing mother. A proper fit can save the life of some of them. It should be at least 20-25 cm high and 15-20 cm wide. When the piglets grow up, the ability to crush them by the mother drops significantly.

In order for newborn piglets to grow up healthy, it is necessary to take care of the conditions in which the pig will be kept before farrowing. It is necessary, first of all, to whitewash and disinfect the room. Change the litter after farrowing.

Piglets should be kept under special supervision for the first 2 weeks. At the first signs of malaise, apathy, diarrhea, they turn to the veterinarian for help. Experienced farmers usually have everything they need to help the animal, but a specialist will handle the problem better.

Breeding piglets without a sow

According to experienced farmers, weaning newborn piglets from their mother without good reason is troublesome, just feeding weaned piglets is worth something. But with enough diligence, the business will be crowned with success.

How to quickly wean suckling pigs from a sow and feed the animals yourself? In order to artificially feed a newborn pig, you will need a measuring bottle, a rubber or silicone teat and a syringe.

Piglet feeding device

For feeding several babies at once, a special device was invented. It is a metal tube, the length of which depends on the number of piglets. The openings on the sides must be closed with plugs. The pipe should be about 80 cm in diameter. Legs with a height of no more than 15 cm are welded to it. Holes with a diameter of about 20-25 cm are drilled on the pipe, their number corresponds to the number of piglets +1 hole. Tubes are welded to the holes and nipples are put on them, except for one located in the center. An adapter is attached to it and milk is supplied. The approach to the feed can be front and back.

If the mother died during farrowing or refused to feed the babies, the weaning pigs are immediately taught to this device. More than 15 min. piglets should not be fed.

Diet: what can be given to newborn piglets

In the absence of pork milk, the following mixture is prepared: 15 g of fish oil, 25 g of sugar, 10 g of salt, 4 chicken eggs are added to 1 liter of goat or cow milk. The mixture is heated to 40 degrees and piglets are fed up to 20 times a day. Milk powder, lactose, fidolux, whey powder are suitable as substitutes for natural dairy products.

After the first week, you can halve the number of feedings by stopping the nighttime feeding. Wheat and barley are specially roasted and given as a top dressing already in the first days of life, gradually teaching the piglets to eat from the feeder. Otherwise, a young animal, accustomed to liquid food, will only suck out the slurry, leaving a thick part of the swill, which will lead to slow weight gain. Sour or cold food is contraindicated for young animals, piglets may develop diarrhea, and they will lose weight.

Diet for suckling piglets

Nutrition and vitamins for two month old piglets

It is important to know all about small piglets in order to raise healthy livestock. After a two-week period, piglets begin to introduce complementary foods in the form of boiled vegetables, root crops, ground wheat, and add milk whey to their food. As an additive, salt is given every day, in an amount of 10 g and 1 tsp. iron sulfate. Up to 3-4 months, young animals eat 5 times a day, and after that they are transferred to four meals a day.

At the age of 2 to 4 months, there is a recommendation not to give piglets raised for fattening (regardless of breed), raw potatoes - you can only puree or boiled potatoes. Other root vegetables are also cooked and chopped. Carrots are healthier when grated and raw. Finely chopped grass should be poured with boiling water before giving to the pigs. Legumes are best suited for herbal feeding. Babies for normal weight gain, obtaining micro- and macronutrients up to 2 months are given the Piggy premix containing iron, which is so necessary for piglets to prevent anemia. Biovit for just born young piglets is also considered an important feed additive, which includes vitamins, enzymes and a number of antibiotics.

Feeding piglets

Later, when the young grow up, it is advisable to give the Borka premix as a vitamin supplement.

To prevent rickets, babies should receive:

• precipitated chalk;
• meat and bone meal;
• red clay;
• ground shells.

Mix 200 g of fish oil and 0.02 g of phosphorus and give the babies 2 tsp. 2 times a day. To prevent anemia, vaccination is carried out on the first day of life + preparations containing iron should be transferred to food. Further, all preventive vaccinations are done at the appointed time:

1. For rickets, injections containing calcium and potassium are given when the young growth is 10 days old.
2. Further, when babies are from 20 to 30 days old, they are vaccinated against salmonellosis.
3. At a month and a half, they receive a vaccine against plague and leptospirosis.
4. At 2-2.5 months - from foot and mouth disease, Teschen's disease and erysipelas.
5. At 4 months, piglets receive a worm vaccine.To do this, you can use drugs: Ivermec, Tetramisole, Levamisole, Univerm.

How to raise a healthy pig in 6 months up to 100 kilograms

Every farmer wants to raise a piglet in a short time and get up to 100-120 kg of live weight. To do this, you just need to correctly formulate the ration of pigs, as well as worry about their maintenance, and soon you can get the desired result. In order for the pig to gain weight as quickly as possible, it must receive a high-calorie compound feed.

Piglets raised on the owner's backyard most often eat household waste and boiled vegetables. But with such feeding, the newborn piglet will reach the desired weight only after 10-11 months. This is a profitable move when starting a business. You can get the same result in six months or 7 months if you eat a balanced feed.

Balanced compound feed

Novice farmers who want to start a piglet business need to pay attention to nutritious and balanced feed for faster results. To breed livestock for slaughter is the most correct feeding option.

Knowing how to care for newborn piglets, what food to give them, as well as what to introduce into the diet, you can raise a healthy animal for meat, while obtaining a quality product.