Newborn Pigs Dead Upon Birth

[mario299]

We have experienced, as have several of our fellow pig folks, the unexplained death of either all or part of new-born litters of piggies. We just had a new litter today and the total delivered was eight, but four died upon birth (or perhaps before birth...I can't get an answer), so the result was four. They are big, healthy newborns but I'm not getting any answers on why half did not make it...I am not Thai literate enough to be understood. This has been going on with several of our friends that raise pigs for awhile, and I am curious if anyone has a clue about why some litters don't make it at all, or maybe only half do.

 

Ideas or experience?

 

mario299

[kickstart]

Get a mod to move this  over to the farming forum they are some pig guys they .

[CharlieH]

MOVED to farming for better help.

[thoongfoned]

ok some qestions.

what parity sow? or gilts? body conition of mum? ie fat or thin ect... how any days did they farrow @? 115 being the norm.

what birth weight were the piglets?

at a guess before you answer i would say as only 8 total born the piglets would be around 2kg each, so maybe the mum had a longer than normal labor as she struggled to push them outin time (do they put there hand/arm in to check on the birthing progress?) so they sort of got stuck in the brthing canel and died.. do they use any meds to help with contractions? say oxytocin synth?

the feed amounts during gestation are important, too much too little ect... the enviroment the pigs live/birth in, ie too hot.... and of course the timing of ai or natual conception will affect the total born numbers, 10 born alive per litter is ok/good for thailand. birth weight 1kg very small 1.5kg good 1.6kg and more is good/heavy depending on body condition and parity of the mum.

 

[IsaanAussie]

Early on we had a parvo virus issue for a few months. First farrowings were all still born and had been effected/died early in the pregnancy. Gradually things improved with the piglets going longer term. 

Not suggesting this is your issue, but It may be a good idea to ask others near you and especially the local vet if there has been any incidence.

[kickstart]

The odd thing about this one is that it has infected more than one farm ,looking at Google as IA said it did mention Parvo virus ,And TF has asked a lot of questions .

I did think of Leptospirosis ,Rook-Chee-Noo in Thai ,that could have spread from farm to farm .

Are the farms feeding the same feed ,feed shot of minerals ,salt .?

But like a lot of livestock problems in Thailand ,use Google and nearly all the post say get a blood sample and send it to a lab ,in my field of cattle that is almost unheard of in Thailand ,TB test are done now and then.

TF ,does your vet blood sample your pigs if you have any problems . 

[thoongfoned]

12 hours ago, kickstart said:

The odd thing about this one is that it has infected more than one farm ,looking at Google as IA said it did mention Parvo virus ,And TF has asked a lot of questions .

I did think of Leptospirosis ,Rook-Chee-Noo in Thai ,that could have spread from farm to farm .

Are the farms feeding the same feed ,feed shot of minerals ,salt .?

But like a lot of livestock problems in Thailand ,use Google and nearly all the post say get a blood sample and send it to a lab ,in my field of cattle that is almost unheard of in Thailand ,TB test are done now and then.

TF ,does your vet blood sample your pigs if you have any problems . 

we is the vet....555

yes, do 5 random samples every month. plus gilts are tested before being allocated to new farms. do here of gilt farms having problems with blood test not meeting company standards,(gilt farm basic 700 head) its on a massive scale though, think of trying to just have enough replacement gilts for over 300 sow farms every month, thats just in the north east....

alot of the problems i hear about in thailand are just down being to hot,over feeding and poor hygiene...

[khwaibah]

For the OP. Next time you are down to Surin Immigration stop in at the Department Of Livestock which is directly across from the Kap Choeng Government Hospital. The livestock office is on your left as you look from the hospital and on your right is office for the Department of Agriculture. My wife deals with both and has had very good results.  You can also stop in at the Surin Livestock Breeding and Research Center on the 214 about halfway between Prasat and Surin on the east side of the 214. Both of these  should be able to help you out. My wife was talking last night with the lady in charge of breading and selling chickens, 16 baht now for chicks. 

Bothe of the above units have vets.

[kickstart]

9 hours ago, thoongfoned said:

we is the vet....555

yes, do 5 random samples every month. plus gilts are tested before being allocated to new farms. do here of gilt farms having problems with blood test not meeting company standards,(gilt farm basic 700 head) its on a massive scale though, think of trying to just have enough replacement gilts for over 300 sow farms every month, thats just in the north east....

a lot of the problems I hear about in thailand are just down being to hot,over feeding and poor hygiene...

 I would say you would be right about poor hygiene ,I said it could be Lepto ,it is also spread by poor hygiene ,not just rats urine ,a blood test would know .

The  OP is not saying a lot about his set up ,is he like you ,or just a small  independent farm selling on the open market ,with no company back up .

Re vets, Kwaibah gave some useful information ,but if the OP went  they  could they help him ,could they take a blood sample send it away and get the results back ,or would a vet be they and would know the answer to any heath problems .

Our big cow area we have a DLD office , I have been they office full of paper, most to do hygiene at our local chicken and pig slaughterhouse.

  Cows do have problems with aborting calves ,a vet friend of mine sees a few cases ,most farmers say cows get bullied and abort ,I say no ,I said in the UK we have a 200 cow yard maybe 1-2 cows abort a year,and we always got the vet in to do a blood test,most come back negative .

Here,a 20 cow herd will get cows abort ,no one will get the DLD vet in to do a blood test ,and I would doubt  if the DLD would even go and do the blood test ,( too busy with the paperwork ? ),and I am certain the are cows about with TB ,and Busaloses ,Scarlet Fever in humans, and probably Leptospirosis.

And I would say it would be the same with the smaller pig farms .