Exeter Pig Club members have tried out a few new ideas since the 2TS Focus on Farrowing conference in Cirencester. Simple but significant changes include:· making sure piglets get their mother’s colostrum
· checking dry sow diets for fish oil and researching additives – there are options, for around £8/tonne, to provide a mix of omega-3 fatty acids
· creating a maternity pack with a clip board, previous litter information and BPEX farrowing disc (pictured), to help record and monitor sows’ progress during farrowing – in one week, seven ‘type 2’ stillbirths (caused by asphyxiation at birth) were prevented as a result
· providing extra water pre and post-farrowing
· finding a way to try split suckling, by using the creep area and blocking off the pop-hole.
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