Piglet mortality – A parallel comparison between loose-housed and temporarily confined farrowing sows in the same herd

Abstract

In literature, piglet mortality is described as a multifactorial complex influenced by factors as litter size, age and health of the sow, farrowing system, management etc. In this study, a parallel comparison was made between two farrowing systems; a temporarily confined (TC) (farrowing- 3 days after) versus a loose sow (L). On average, 0.4 more pigs per litter survived until weaning if the sow was temporarily confined (TC) compared with being loose (L). Cause of death was recorded according to a strict template. Underweight and crushing was the most common causes. For crushing, during 1-3 days after birth, an interaction between sow age and farrowing system was observed, with differences between farrowing systems only for intermediate-aged and older sows (>parity 2). There were no significant differences between systems regarding farrowing duration or number of stillborn pigs, but a significant increase in farrowing problems was recorded for TC-sows.

Keywords

Piglet mortality; farrowing system; temporarily confined; loose sows; underweight; crushing

Published in

Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A - Animal Science
2018, volume: 68, number: 1, pages: 52-62

SLU Authors

• Olsson, Anne-Charlotte

  • Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Botermans, Jos

  • Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Englund, Jan-Eric

  • Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Animal and Dairy Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09064702.2018.1561934

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/99176