Pig Farming

[sionapiorwerth]

Dear All,

I have been farming the Duroc pig, and have had some good results, along with some sad results, when the pigs give birth, we loose all or aorund 70%.

when we get 12 piglets then only two or three survive this is difficult to understand, when we have done all we can, i used to farm pigs back in the uk with little or no loss at birth. i am not on the farm its run by the father in law and the wife.

can anyone give me some suport and advise here.

check out www.daponfarm.com some pictures of the pigs and a few wild pigs we collected from the hills.

looking forward to some feed back.

[slapout]

Are they using farrowing pens for birthing and feeding? This kind of death rate sounds liike sow may be crushing them. If this is not a possibility, then I do not have a suggestion

[sionapiorwerth]

Are they using farrowing pens for birthing and feeding? This kind of death rate sounds liike sow may be crushing them. If this is not a possibility, then I do not have a suggestion

many thanks for the feed back much apreciated.

no we are not using that system, she is not crushing them to death, our first sets of piglets over two years ago were healthy and they lived in the wild inside a banana plantaiton.

from the two sows we had 24 piglets.

what happend last month she bit two of the piglets, and they had deep cuts in their legs as they were born.

could be that these two we have now are just bad mothers.and i should try to give them back more of a wild location other than in an enclosed area.

thanks again

[slapout]

Pigs in the wild and even domestic will eat anything if they are hungry including offspring. I think the sows have adapted your self sufficiency program to the extreme.

[sionapiorwerth]

Pigs in the wild and even domestic will eat anything if they are hungry including offspring. I think the sows have adapted your self sufficiency program to the extreme.

Dear Slapout,

could be, my freind -as of today 12 more just arrived, two died due to being too small.

and we have four more waiting to pop them out.

thanks for the feed back

[teletiger]

Could it be a feeding regime problem?

With cows we increase their feed during the last trimester (last third) of the pregnancy cycle. Using this system we went from 60% mortality rate (really) to a 0% rate. Cows-pigs, oranges-apples right? Just a thought.

Regards.

[bina]

crowding/bad mother syndrome (mother was a bad mother so many times daughter can be also- at least with goats and donkeys this is often the case)

stress

habitat changes needed....

is she killing them or are they dieing of disease? if u arent there to monitor then hard for u to really know what is going on...

u may have to sit and watch her/them from a distance to see where the problem lies.

nursing issues?

piglets with problems such as physical deformites that she wants to get rid of?

is there a more agressive sow hassling a younger or newer mother?

is there a male bothering her (with donkeys this causes a young mother to abandon her foal if she has no help from other mares for instance)...

never had a pig, (living in israel ) but sheep/goats/donkeys/dogs/ferrets... and many of the problems are similar...

and as everyone mentioned: diet. (for the low birth weight piglets at least this can be a cause), but also diseases that female mammals can get: chlymidia/brucellosis/the list is endless, dont know what pigs get specifically but u must know, perhaps some blood work in a lab might be good?

bina

israel

[sionapiorwerth]

crowding/bad mother syndrome (mother was a bad mother so many times daughter can be also- at least with goats and donkeys this is often the case)

stress

habitat changes needed....

is she killing them or are they dieing of disease? if u arent there to monitor then hard for u to really know what is going on...

u may have to sit and watch her/them from a distance to see where the problem lies.

nursing issues?

piglets with problems such as physical deformites that she wants to get rid of?

there a more agressive sow hassling a younger or newer mother?

is there a male bothering her (with donkeys this causes a young mother to abandon her foal if she has no help from other mares for instance)...

never had a pig, (living in israel ) but sheep/goats/donkeys/dogs/ferrets... and many of the problems are similar...

and as everyone mentioned: diet. (for the low birth weight piglets at least this can be a cause), but also diseases that female mammals can get: chlymidia/brucellosis/the list is endless, dont know what pigs get specifically but u must know, perhaps some blood work in a lab might be good?

bina

israel

Hi Bina and Teletiger

got the vet to call today, he took a look and mentioned the ones who lost piglets are bad mothers with a bad temprement.

he mentioned to give them one more chance, away from any other females, as Bina mentioned.

today was a good day three more gave birth, 22 piglets in total.

two more to give birth very soon.

i will be home for a week next weekend i will sit down and video them all, they stick to one teat when they feed as did the first sets we had. this could be a problem 12 is too much 8 is the best figure i belive.

Thanks Again, ahev a great weekend.

John

[wagner54]

crowding/bad mother syndrome (mother was a bad mother so many times daughter can be also- at least with goats and donkeys this is often the case)

stress

habitat changes needed....

is she killing them or are they dieing of disease? if u arent there to monitor then hard for u to really know what is going on...

u may have to sit and watch her/them from a distance to see where the problem lies.

nursing issues?

piglets with problems such as physical deformites that she wants to get rid of?

there a more agressive sow hassling a younger or newer mother?

is there a male bothering her (with donkeys this causes a young mother to abandon her foal if she has no help from other mares for instance)...

never had a pig, (living in israel ) but sheep/goats/donkeys/dogs/ferrets... and many of the problems are similar...

and as everyone mentioned: diet. (for the low birth weight piglets at least this can be a cause), but also diseases that female mammals can get: chlymidia/brucellosis/the list is endless, dont know what pigs get specifically but u must know, perhaps some blood work in a lab might be good?

bina

israel

Hi Bina and Teletiger

got the vet to call today, he took a look and mentioned the ones who lost piglets are bad mothers with a bad temprement.

he mentioned to give them one more chance, away from any other females, as Bina mentioned.

today was a good day three more gave birth, 22 piglets in total.

two more to give birth very soon.

i will be home for a week next weekend i will sit down and video them all, they stick to one teat when they feed as did the first sets we had. this could be a problem 12 is too much 8 is the best figure i belive.

Thanks Again, ahev a great weekend.

John

Hi John

My first thought for the low survival rate is your feed regime, but if you have a sow that is killing her young get rid of her because you dont want to be passing those kind of traits to any of your future breeding stock. As far as 12 piglets if yor sows are in good shape there should be no problem with her feeding them, I have had as many as 16 weaned from one sow, when you have several sows farrowing around the same time frame as the piglets grow they will feed on any sow that is laying down to nurse. I hope you figure out your problem fast because with the price of feed those kind of death losses will break your dreams in a hurry.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

Roger

[kujirasan]

Hi there, the post here are indicating something about lack of motherly instinct, and that is a factor, but they are not going to the root of the problem, these type pigs are becoming common through out the world in the intense farming sector, due to breeding techniques that have been developed and adopted the motherly criterion has been compromised and at times completely gone with the selective breading! And often the offspring are too week to survive slightest change in environmental condition as their immune system is not too strong.

Lets look at on example, in the traditional Poultry breading a hen gets broody after laying 25 to 30 eggs, and then will sit on them for 21 days till eggs hatch and chicks roll out, the battery hens of today, will lay every day but never go broody, that is the motherly instinct has gone completely! If you going to let the pigs into open remember that , Thailand is not UK and bacteria does well in the hot humid condition, the solution is to use a native breed as sire or get a few native sows and use one your male one! I was in central Australia few years ago, it has huge feral pig population, we use to catch few sows and they would farrow, and there never was a loss! If you are going to do intensive breeding, you use controlled environment and make sure the sow is fed around clock. My friend has pig farm, and it is highly automated, and he keeps the ubiquitous LAND RACE

[sionapiorwerth]

crowding/bad mother syndrome (mother was a bad mother so many times daughter can be also- at least with goats and donkeys this is often the case)

stress

habitat changes needed....

is she killing them or are they dieing of disease? if u arent there to monitor then hard for u to really know what is going on...

u may have to sit and watch her/them from a distance to see where the problem lies.

nursing issues?

piglets with problems such as physical deformites that she wants to get rid of?

there a more agressive sow hassling a younger or newer mother?

is there a male bothering her (with donkeys this causes a young mother to abandon her foal if she has no help from other mares for instance)...

never had a pig, (living in israel ) but sheep/goats/donkeys/dogs/ferrets... and many of the problems are similar...

and as everyone mentioned: diet. (for the low birth weight piglets at least this can be a cause), but also diseases that female mammals can get: chlymidia/brucellosis/the list is endless, dont know what pigs get specifically but u must know, perhaps some blood work in a lab might be good?

bina

israel

Hi Bina and Teletiger

got the vet to call today, he took a look and mentioned the ones who lost piglets are bad mothers with a bad temprement.

he mentioned to give them one more chance, away from any other females, as Bina mentioned.

today was a good day three more gave birth, 22 piglets in total.

two more to give birth very soon.

i will be home for a week next weekend i will sit down and video them all, they stick to one teat when they feed as did the first sets we had. this could be a problem 12 is too much 8 is the best figure i belive.

Thanks Again, ahev a great weekend.

John

Hi John

My first thought for the low survival rate is your feed regime, but if you have a sow that is killing her young get rid of her because you dont want to be passing those kind of traits to any of your future breeding stock. As far as 12 piglets if yor sows are in good shape there should be no problem with her feeding them, I have had as many as 16 weaned from one sow, when you have several sows farrowing around the same time frame as the piglets grow they will feed on any sow that is laying down to nurse. I hope you figure out your problem fast because with the price of feed those kind of death losses will break your dreams in a hurry.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

Roger

Hi Roger and All

great feed back very much apreciated.

to date the rest have given birth we are now holding 42 young piglets, it seems the two bad mothers are as such and we shall fatten them up and sell them off.

the cost for feed the pigs is not expensive, as we have our own rice fields 5 rai, we are able to exchange for the Rum, we have found four great suppliers around our location at 5 to 8 baht per kilo.hiest i have paid is 12 baht.

mix with some molases.

when the banana trees give fruits we use the old stem, best thing is we have the market close by and have made deals for the peelings form all the veg, we get every day or every other day a pick up full FOC or a few bottles of rice wine.

as we have a shop that sells fruit and veg we give the old stuff as well.

Roger what kind of pig feed do you use?

we will plant more Kluay Nam wah to get bigger trees for them to eat, one pig pen is under a big Tamarind tree, from time to time we shake the pods for them and sue the young branches.

Talk soon

John

[sionapiorwerth]

Hi there, the post here are indicating something about lack of motherly instinct, and that is a factor, but they are not going to the root of the problem, these type pigs are becoming common through out the world in the intense farming sector, due to breeding techniques that have been developed and adopted the motherly criterion has been compromised and at times completely gone with the selective breading! And often the offspring are too week to survive slightest change in environmental condition as their immune system is not too strong.

Lets look at on example, in the traditional Poultry breading a hen gets broody after laying 25 to 30 eggs, and then will sit on them for 21 days till eggs hatch and chicks roll out, the battery hens of today, will lay every day but never go broody, that is the motherly instinct has gone completely! If you going to let the pigs into open remember that , Thailand is not UK and bacteria does well in the hot humid condition, the solution is to use a native breed as sire or get a few native sows and use one your male one! I was in central Australia few years ago, it has huge feral pig population, we use to catch few sows and they would farrow, and there never was a loss! If you are going to do intensive breeding, you use controlled environment and make sure the sow is fed around clock. My friend has pig farm, and it is highly automated, and he keeps the ubiquitous LAND RACE

Hi Kujiran,

the pigs i got, were from phuket, and they are "Mong Cai" breed from northen vietnam, and they say a good breed to have very hardy and resistent to many diseases.

we feed the pigs htree times per day,and when they are pregnant we have food for them all day.

many thanks for the update very much apreciated

Reagrds

John

[wagner54]

crowding/bad mother syndrome (mother was a bad mother so many times daughter can be also- at least with goats and donkeys this is often the case)

stress

habitat changes needed....

is she killing them or are they dieing of disease? if u arent there to monitor then hard for u to really know what is going on...

u may have to sit and watch her/them from a distance to see where the problem lies.

nursing issues?

piglets with problems such as physical deformites that she wants to get rid of?

there a more agressive sow hassling a younger or newer mother?

is there a male bothering her (with donkeys this causes a young mother to abandon her foal if she has no help from other mares for instance)...

never had a pig, (living in israel ) but sheep/goats/donkeys/dogs/ferrets... and many of the problems are similar...

and as everyone mentioned: diet. (for the low birth weight piglets at least this can be a cause), but also diseases that female mammals can get: chlymidia/brucellosis/the list is endless, dont know what pigs get specifically but u must know, perhaps some blood work in a lab might be good?

bina

israel

Hi Bina and Teletiger

got the vet to call today, he took a look and mentioned the ones who lost piglets are bad mothers with a bad temprement.

he mentioned to give them one more chance, away from any other females, as Bina mentioned.

today was a good day three more gave birth, 22 piglets in total.

two more to give birth very soon.

i will be home for a week next weekend i will sit down and video them all, they stick to one teat when they feed as did the first sets we had. this could be a problem 12 is too much 8 is the best figure i belive.

Thanks Again, ahev a great weekend.

John

Hi John

My first thought for the low survival rate is your feed regime, but if you have a sow that is killing her young get rid of her because you dont want to be passing those kind of traits to any of your future breeding stock. As far as 12 piglets if yor sows are in good shape there should be no problem with her feeding them, I have had as many as 16 weaned from one sow, when you have several sows farrowing around the same time frame as the piglets grow they will feed on any sow that is laying down to nurse. I hope you figure out your problem fast because with the price of feed those kind of death losses will break your dreams in a hurry.

Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

Roger

Hi Roger and All

great feed back very much apreciated.

to date the rest have given birth we are now holding 42 young piglets, it seems the two bad mothers are as such and we shall fatten them up and sell them off.

the cost for feed the pigs is not expensive, as we have our own rice fields 5 rai, we are able to exchange for the Rum, we have found four great suppliers around our location at 5 to 8 baht per kilo.hiest i have paid is 12 baht.

mix with some molases.

when the banana trees give fruits we use the old stem, best thing is we have the market close by and have made deals for the peelings form all the veg, we get every day or every other day a pick up full FOC or a few bottles of rice wine.

as we have a shop that sells fruit and veg we give the old stuff as well.

Roger what kind of pig feed do you use?

we will plant more Kluay Nam wah to get bigger trees for them to eat, one pig pen is under a big Tamarind tree, from time to time we shake the pods for them and sue the young branches.

Talk soon

John

Hi John

I was feeding ground corn with a little fish meal added and all the extra squash and other veggiies that a quarter acre garden provided plus they were on pasture except during the winter.

I'm glad to hear your last litters are apparantly doing well, you are averaging good size litters so it looks like you have a good boar.

Roger

[christensen]

My wife just startet up with pigs. Using the old bananastem as food

is also used here. I will follow the development on this site. She bought

the common food for 630 bath/full sack.

[sionapiorwerth]

My wife just startet up with pigs. Using the old bananastem as food

is also used here. I will follow the development on this site. She bought

the common food for 630 bath/full sack.

Hi khun Christensen,

seems your pig feed is expensive, use "Rum" and water, 5 to 10 baht per kilo get from the rice farmers.

mix with molases.

if you have a local market get them to keep their veg peeling daily or every other day.

Regards

John