How Pig Farms Shorten Sows’ Farrowing Duration for Efficient Piglet Delivery

The longer the farrowing process lasts for sows, the higher the associated production risks. What practical methods can shorten sows’ farrowing time and achieve efficient delivery? Below we share practical management tips for pig farmers.

1. Maintain Proper Exercise for Sows

Sows must get adequate daily activity before farrowing. Moderate exercise boosts digestion and physical fitness of sows, and also supports fetal development. Sows with regular exercise enjoy smoother muscle contraction during labor, which effectively shortens farrowing time.

Sows kept in gestation crates suffer from severe lack of movement. Insufficient activity leads to excessive fat deposition in muscles involved in delivery, which easily results in weak labor. Therefore, sows can be transferred to group pens after the 70th day of gestation to expand their activity space, which greatly helps shorten farrowing duration.

2. Strictly Control Mycotoxins in Feed

Mycotoxins severely damage sows’ reproductive and immune systems. Avoiding moldy feed can effectively shorten the farrowing process.

The feeding plan needs adjustment approaching delivery: rations are highly nutritious in early gestation, while feed volume should be gradually reduced before farrowing. Excessive feed intake forces sows to spend massive energy on digestion, and gastrointestinal burden greatly increases delivery difficulty. Experienced pig producers will cut feed amounts step by step before sows go into labor.

3. Timely Energy Supplementation During Farrowing

Sows often produce large litters, and they frequently run out of strength in the late stage of labor, unable to push out remaining piglets, which may cause piglet suffocation and death.

Solutions: Feed sows brown sugar and wheat bran soup during delivery to rapidly restore physical strength for finishing labor; veterinarians may also administer approved injectable products to stimulate uterine contraction and shorten total farrowing time.

4. Precisely Control Sows’ Body Condition Score

Over-fat or under-thin sows both suffer from weak labor and prolonged farrowing. The ideal body condition score for sows before delivery is around 3.5.

Daily feed intake shall be accurately controlled throughout gestation to maintain standard body fatness. Sows whose body condition fails to improve after a period of adjustment should be culled promptly.

5. Properly Regulate Ambient Temperature

Heat stress and constipation obviously cause weak uterine contraction. It is recommended to provide sufficient clean drinking water all day long, together with green and succulent forage.

6. Apply Compound Chinese Herbal Feed Additives

Compound herbal additives formulated with motherwort, Chinese angelica, licorice and other ingredients can condition sows during the peripartum period and boost amniotic fluid secretion. The fluid-filled amniotic sac softens and dilates the cervix and birth canal to reduce maternal injuries.

Chinese herbal additives can markedly shorten farrowing time, accelerate post-partum uterine involution and restore feed intake. Supplementing qi-tonifying, blood-nourishing and fetus-calming Chinese herbs in feed during fetal boosting phase can prevent various hazards caused by overly long farrowing.

Terminology Explanation

Peripartum period: 7 days pre-farrowing to 7 days post-farrowing. It is a special and critical stage in sows’ reproductive cycle, and sows’ performance in this period directly determines the overall production performance of the pig farm.

Fetal boosting: Fetuses grow fastest in late gestation. Farmers raise dietary energy and protein levels (switch to lactation feed or special late-gestation feed) and increase feed volume to raise piglet birth weight.

If pig farmers implement the above management measures, the farrowing process of most sows can be controlled within 3 hours, except for aged sows and gilts. Wish all pig farmers an easier and more efficient pig raising career!