Farmer’s Choice

Pig Management Manual

Quality Meat Products

FARMER’S CHOICE 1
Farmer’s Choice House Management Manual

© Farmer’s Choice Ltd. April 2011

Published by
Farmer’s Choice Ltd
P.O Box 47791-00100
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: + 254 (0)20 8711722, 8711180-85, 8710416-9
Fax: + 254 (0)20 8712123, 8711146
Email: [email protected]

Produced by
Dr. Vetr. Medicine
Preben Toftemark

All rights of this manual are reserved. Do not reproduce,

store in retrieval system, transmit in any form or by any
means, electronic, graphic, mechanical, photocopy,
recording or otherwise any part and or this entire book
without prior written permission of the publisher.
 Table of contents

Chapter 1
Farrowing House management......................................................................................................4

Chapter 2
Weaner House Managemet...............................................................................................................8

Chapter 3
Dry –Sow House Management.....................................................................................................11

Chapter 4
Fatteners House Management.....................................................................................................12

APPENDIX 1
Scoring system for selecting sows
(intending to be gilt/ boar –mother...............................................................................................14

APPENDIX 2
Vaccination Scheme.............................................................................................................................15
CHAPTER 1

FARROWING HOUSE MANAGEMENT

To have success in farrowing-in house you need to take stock in dry – sow houses
before arrival of the pregnant sows in farrowing pens. Look for body performance
and if in a group of sows there are some with poor and down trodden condition,
they should be removed and properly fed to do the best preparation for farrowing.
Arriving to farrowing pens should take place 5-6 days before delivery to help
them acclimatize and get used to lactating feeding.

Also to reduce stress, normally high pregnant sows look for isolation. The pen
should be well prepared, white washed and disinfected. Ensure the white wash
is totally dry- because the sows can be skin – burned. The movement of the high
pregnant sows from dry sow houses should be done carefully. Most appropriate
use guiding- boards and preferably done by staff from farrowing houses.

Vaccination Scheme: About 3 weeks before delivery for sows and 3 to 6 weeks
before delivery for gilts (parity 1).

E- Coli and Clostridium, incase of threatening Atr. Rhinitis use BPE.

Deworm because of endemic Ascaris infestation. It is advisable to deworm

1-2 weeks before delivery. Before arriving to the cleaned pen, sows can get
appropriately washed in temperature water to clean the body for worm eggs.

Usually the appetite is reduced before delivery. Don’t overfeed, but be aware the
sows need power to give birth and the piglets need some power to struggle for
life. It may be advisable for some poor performance sows, to add a little creepers
feed.

The delivery should be observed but not disturbed. When the last born piglet is
getting dry or the interval is about an hour, then it is time for taking action. All
approaches to a delivering sow should be done very carefully and only by well
trained staff. Take time to approach the sow, give some very soft massage on the
udder, it stimulates contractions in the uterus and works better than Oxytocin.
After communicating with the sow, clean your hands and the external birth canal.
Use a lot of lubrication and insert your arm in the birth- canal.

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Extract as many piglets as possible and leave some lubrication inside the uterus
(womb). After birth assistance, direct the piglets to the udder and stimulate by
massage to lay -down milk and further uterus contractions. When birth assistance
fails because no piglets can be reached, then let the sow move slowly down the
corridor and back again. The movement should be done with great patience
because most sows don’t like to leave the farrowing environment. After some
movement, most dislocations of the uterus will take its natural place and after
some relaxation, the delivery will carry on.

Most important after farrowing, is to observe the piglets. If they are hungry,
restless and look freezy, then the sow may have problems related to the udder
(Mastitis).

Call your veterinarians and get the sow properly examined. If the piglets have
already developed dehydration, then immediately use temperature electrolytes

FARMER’S CHOICE 5
by drinking. There may be some discharge from the sow after delivery- it is
normal, but if the discharge looks inammatory, alert your veterinarian and take
action. It is all about the comfort of the sow and later reproductive performance.
Because the piglets are born with very little iron- deposit, it is necessary to inject
150-200mg iron on the 2nd or 3rd day (providing the red- corpuscles for oxygen
transportation) if the piglets look pale. Later while suckling, the treatment can be
repeated.

Because of ambiguous prevalence of coccidiosis oocysts (causing diarrhea), it is

advisable to treat the piglets with Baycox through its mouth on the 3rd day after
birth. Ensure the drug is placed on the tongue and not in the wind pipe.

The most appropriate time for weaning should take place at 35 days of age.
Move the sows to service houses, keep them in stable groups. Weaners should
be kept properly- warm and dry. Weaners should be transferred to weaners’
accommodation by some cages or small wagons to avoid contact with
contaminated corridors.

Reasons for culling sows instead of transfer to service:

1. Poor performance concerning litter size (productivity)

2. Poor milker because of mastitis and loss of productive teats
3. Lameness because of bad trotters and arthritis
4. High parity

Fostering Schemes
Main target to provide survival for as many piglets as possible. At first, look for
suitable fostering mothers as close to orphans as possible. Try to assure that the
piglets intending to get moved if possible have got some colostrum from the
mother. After getting a suitable fostering mother, don’t remove all her piglets,
let at least 4-5 piglets stay, the smallest. If possible look for low parity sows for
fostering. Protect the piglets not to get crashed. Implement of crashed – bars
along the wall in farrowing pens can highly be recommended. Most important
in farrowing houses, T.L.C- Tender, Loving Care.

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FARMER’S CHOICE 7
CHAPTER 2

WEANER HOUSE MANAGEMENT

What time (age) to wean? It depends on accommodations for the weaners just
from high expensive incubators, very expensive feeds and sow reproduction.
Local conditions, climate weaners facility and cost of feed are indicating the most
optimal time for weaning will be in the age of 5 weeks.

A little calculation useful to understand:

We calculated pregnancy in about 118 days. The lactation as suggested in 35
days, the days between weaning and service average 7 out of 160 days. 360 days
(1 year) divided by 160 = 2.25 that means 2.2 liters per sow per year. With time, I
suppose this number can be increased a little approaching to 2.5 and following
around 5 litres per sow per two (2) years, ( hopefully resulting in 50 fatteners per
sow per two (2) years.

Now the pregnant sow needs some days to acclamatize to farrow pen conditions
and the pens need some cleaning, disinfection and dryness. The following
calculation is useful: 1 week to prepare the farrow (pen) 5 weeks of lactation. It
gives a total of 6 weeks, which a sow needs, 2.2 times a year that means 13 weeks
per sow per year. 52 weeks (Year) divide by 13-4 that means one farrow-pen can
accommodate 4 sows per year if properly organized. This calculation should be
useful as a framework for weekly service –planning.

Since weaning induces estrus, when well managed, this can guarantee a uniform
number of sows serviced per week, which would then relate to the number of
sows per farrowing pen per year.

Weaning piglets should be done properly without unnecessary stress preferably

transported in cages without contact to contaminated corridors. The weaner
house should be properly cleaned (disinfected) and totally well dried. Wooden
floor, some covering (roof ), curtains in front of the roof for the first week preferably,
access to temperate water and no access to cold water feeding 4 times a day and
high hygiene. Because of high risk for diarrhea, add some fiber (crusted oat) and
to improve intestine mucosa and reduce scour then add some Zinconxyd. (3-4)
gram per kg total feed) and only for the first 10 days after weaning. Be aware of
the hygiene. After cleaning, use a little stalosan especially in wet areas.
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FARMER’S CHOICE 9
Keeping the weaners in high hygienic environment is basis for optimal feed
conversion and crucial for later fatteners productivity.

It is highly advisable to move weaners or fatteners as little as possible. Every

movement means loss of daily gain and feed. Wean in bigger groups and divide
them later (small and big). There may be some unused potential in the system
called all in or all out from weaning to slaughter.

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 CHAPTER 3

Dry- Sow House Management

Wean the sows in stable groups, most practical give the intended group of sows a
colour mark (green, red etc|) before leaving farrowing houses. Group depending
on performance, age (parity) and health. The more uniform the better. Be aware
of aggressive fighters.

No boar contact before the third (3) day after weaning. Boar contact by nose only
from day 3 use the boar as indicators for estrus. Do the service with assistance
from boar-nose- contact. After service, use the boar daily to control returns.

Daily nose- contact from corridors, still keep sows in stable groups, two times
return from estrus means culling. It is advisable to keep weaned sows in separate
small pens , comfortable for standing, eating and sleeping. It means no stress,
individual feeding, boar nose- contact, proper service and optimal conditions for
fertilizing eggs and estimated number of embryos. In terms of bio- security, it is
highly advisable to feed pregnant sows with a little grass or hay daily (vitamins
and minerals as well as fibres).

Vaccination Schemes: 6 and 3 weeks before farrowing for gilts and 3 weeks before
for sows. Deworm around 1-2 weeks before farrow.

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CHAPTER 4

FATTENERS HOUSE MANAGEMENT

The most appropriate way of housing for the fatteners should be kept in
sections for all out or all in. Before arrival of big weaners, the pens should be
cleaned, disinfected, whitewashed, totally dry and empty for one week. Arrival to
fatteners houses can be done in groups of small weaners depending on the pen
construction. If wooden floors and some roofing are available, bigger groups can
be housed together and later divided into neighbor pens.

The ‘comfort zones’ is a very important object because of feed/convert. Placing

drinking –nibbles in the area intending for dunging can provide improved hygiene
and more dryness in the pen. At the same time it will save a lot of cleaning work
and reduce worm eggs and larvae from maturing. The comfort-zones should be
kept totally dry, clean and without draught.

Feeding trough should allow space enough for every fattener to eat simultaneously.
The lower the trough is constructed, the more the fatteners feel inclined to put
up the trotters when eating (concerning worm –egg contamination). Feeding
procedures should be kept quite regular 3 times a day. A little watering in
advance will be stimulating saliva. Feeding with fully mixed feed and water (1:2)
will improve feed convert. After feeding with as little disturbances as possible, it is
desirable to let the fatteners go to sleep as soon as possible. Cleaning should be
done during the eating time to avoid disturbances during sleeping time.

The genetic potential should make it possible to convert from 2.6 to 2.8 fed per
kg body weight (depending on comfort zones, feeding procedures formulation
and general healthy level).

It might be possible to find a scheme for deworming, depending on counting

worm eggs and white liver spots. Treatment is supposed to be by feeding 2-3
weeks before slaughter. Until further trials concerning white-liver spots, it might be
advisable to deworm as usual (about 1 month after arrival to fatteners house).

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FARMER’S CHOICE 13
APPENDIX 1

SCORING SYSTEM FOR SELECTING SOWS

(Intending to be gilt/ boar- mothers)

The selection is most appropriately done in farrowing houses.

The first impression will be from the current litter.

1. The sow must be white (Combination; Landrace and Yorkshire)

2. The current littre must be uniform, well fed and at least 10 (white)
3. The Sow must have provided10 weaners at least 3 times
4. The Sow must have a healthy udder and at least 14 healthy productive teats
5. The Sow must have a long, strong back with well performed hams
6. The sow must have 4 strong legs, healthy uniform trotters and no lameness
7. The Sow must have a long straight nose (preventing Rhinitis and Pheumonia)
8. Preferably the Sow should be in parity 3 times or more
9. Unfortunately, good mothers can be aggressive, but should have a limit
10. No pain reaction by moving

Third probe over last

Second probe lumber vertebrae High tail
over last rib
Strong evenly
arched back
Thick meaty loin
Probe over first rib

Smooth shoulders
Good length and good depth Plum Hams

Ample heart girth

14 well developed teats minimum

(both boars and gilts)
Straight legs
Firm at base of ham (well apart)
but deep and full

Trim Jowl

Good bone and

Medium length legs

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 APPENDIX 2

VACCINATION SCHEME
Replacement gilts and boars.
From the age of 3 months: Vaccination against Erysipilas.
Revaccinate 3 weeks later.

From the age of 6 months, vaccination against Porein Parvo.

Revaccinate 3 weeks later.

Impig gilts: 6 weeks before farrowing. Vaccination against E- coli and

Clostridium, revaccinate 3 weeks later.

Sows and Boars: Yearly revaccination against Erysipilas and Parvo.

Concerning sows, it will be appropriate to do Parvo and Erysipilas- revaccinate in
connection to waening once a year.

Productive Sows: Parity 1:- Vaccination against E-coli and Clostridium about 6
and 3 weeks before farrowing. If any risk for Rhinitis use simoul Taneously BP.

Parity 2 and more- Revaccinate every 3 weeks before farrowing.

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 Quality Meat Products

Farmer’s Choice Ltd., P.O. Box 47791-00100, Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: +254 (0)20 8711722, 8711180-85, 8710416-9 Fax: +254 (0)20 8712123, 8711146
Email: [email protected] www.farmerschoice.co.ke