The success of sow production greatly determines the productivity as well as the profitability of the farm. The main challenge of high-performance sow rearing is to minimize negative factors in lactation to minimize short- and long-term reproductive performance problems.
It can be said that the ability to producing milk and milk quality have long been a popular problem in sow production. So What causes these problem?
Influenza sows: Sow flu occurs without any obvious symptoms. Influenza virus infection is the cause of poor feed consumption of sows and low initial lactation. In the result, the milk quantity is not sufficient to provide for the piglets
Diseases of toenails: Foot diseases will vary from farm to farm. Inflammation of the hoof causes the sow to waste a lot of energy. Furthermore, newly born sows are less likely to be able to get up and consume feed in the farrowing pen, so lactation is slow.
Infections after birth: It can be said that after birth, the sow's immunity is very weak, her appetite is reduced, and the sow is very susceptible to environmental factors. Pathogens are present in the intestine, transmitted through the mucosa into the bloodstream, entering the uterus. One of the main causes of this invasion is poor bowel motility and especially constipation. Most cases of metritis have the presence of opportunistic microorganisms that are often present in the cage to take advantage of the time of reproduction of the uterus, the damaged vagina contains lots of lochia, which let the bacteria invade the genital tract easily and cause inflammation of the uterus. Several strains of bacteria were found in the intestines of sows:
+ Staphylococus
+ E.Coli
+ Streptococcus
+ Pseudomonas
Mastitis in sows
Uterine inflammation in sows
Some typical symptoms of sows with mastitis, metritis:
Seborrheicitis is a mild inflammatory form that appears 2-3 days after birth.
The lining of the uterus is mildly inflamed. the uterus secretes an oily, clear or cloudy fluid with a fishy smell for a few days after the mucus secretion decreases, thickens and completely disappears. Animals without fever or mild fever are still lactating normally.
Purulent inflammation is a severe form of inflammation that often occurs in animals with poor health. There are a large number of microorganisms infecting the uterus , and it is also possible to have secondary greasy metritis. Animals often have a fever of 40-41 °C , thirst, poor appetite, lie down a lot, urinate less. Their urine is yellow, stools have mucous membranes. They are also ofter tired and less feeding piglets.
Purulent inflammation with blood is a deep reaction to the uterine layer, damage to capillaries causing bleeding. The symptoms can be:
+ Viscous inflammation with pus and blood has a very fishy odor.
+ Very high body temperature with prolonged fever.
+ Do not eat for a long time.
+ Milk production decreased or completely lost.
+ Need lots of breath and be thirsty
+ Fatigue, poor response to external influences, sometimes pressing the piglets.
+ Animals have neurological manifestations, increased body temperature, increased pulse, panting.
Mastitis, metritis is one of the reproductive syndromes that often appear in sows after farrowing. The lining of the uterus damaged may affect hormone secretion. Mastitis manifests delayed estrus and reduces fertility. In the result, it requires expensive treatment and leads to early culling of sows due to delayed oestrus or failure to return to estrus. Inflammation of the uterus greatly affects milk production in sows: It reduces or even stops milk production . Piglets lacking of milk become weak, suffer from diarrhea and gradually die.
Thus, in order to improve pig farm productivity, farmers need to pay attention to minimize the above problems by improving nutrition right from the prenatal stages with the aim of enhancing resistance for sows, enhancing lactation ability and milk quality to provide piglets.
Summarize: Ms. Anh Truong (R&D Department)
