Westin Rebecka, Holmgren Nils, Hultgren Jan, Ortman Kerstin, Linder Anders, Algers Bo
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 234, SE-532 23 Skara, Sweden; Swedish Animal Health Service, SE-532 89 Skara, Sweden.
Swedish Animal Health Service, SE-532 89 Skara, Sweden.
Prev Vet Med. 2015 May 1;119(3-4):141-52. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2015.02.023. Epub 2015 Feb 28.
Piglet survival is the outcome of complex interactions between the sow, the piglet and their environment. In order to facilitate nest-building and to provide a suitable environment for the newborn piglets, a strategic method to supply loose housed sows with large quantities of straw at farrowing has been developed by Swedish piglet-producing farmers. The objectives of this cohort study were to use post-mortem findings to assess the causes of death and to quantify the effect of a large quantity of straw provided before farrowing compared to limited small daily amounts on stillbirths, post-mortem findings in piglets dying within 5 days after birth and the pre-weaning mortality. On each of four commercial piglet-producing farms in South-West Sweden, one batch of sows was studied during two consecutive lactations. At inclusion, sows were randomly assigned to two treatment groups, and sows remaining in the batch during the next lactation switched treatment group. In the STRAW group (n=181 litters) sows were provided with 15-20 kg of chopped straw 2 days prior to the calculated date of farrowing. Sows in the CONTROL group (n=182 litters) received 0.5-1 kg of chopped straw on a daily basis plus about 2 kg for nest-building when the stockperson judged the sow to be about to farrow. After onset of farrowing, additionally 1-2 kg was given. Post-mortem examination was performed in all piglets that died within 5 days after birth (n=798). The three major post-mortem findings were starvation (34%) crushing by the sow (28%), and enteritis (24%). In conclusion, strategic use of large quantities of straw reduced the number of stillborn piglets per litter by 27% (p=0.007). Under the conditions studied, the pre-weaning mortality of liveborn piglets was not affected by treatment; however, the distribution of post-mortem findings differed with fewer piglets dying due to starvation and more due to crushing and enteritis in STRAW litters.
仔猪的存活是母猪、仔猪及其环境之间复杂相互作用的结果。为了便于母猪筑巢并为新生仔猪提供适宜的环境，瑞典仔猪养殖农户开发了一种在产仔时给散养母猪大量供应稻草的策略性方法。这项队列研究的目的是利用尸检结果评估死亡原因，并量化产仔前供应大量稻草与每日少量供应相比，对死胎、出生后5天内死亡仔猪的尸检结果以及断奶前死亡率的影响。在瑞典西南部的四个商业化仔猪养殖农场中，对一批母猪在连续两个泌乳期进行了研究。纳入研究时，母猪被随机分配到两个处理组，在下一个泌乳期仍留在该批次的母猪更换处理组。在稻草组（n = 181窝），在预计产仔日期前两天给母猪提供15 - 20千克切碎的稻草。对照组（n = 182窝）的母猪每天接受0.5 - 1千克切碎的稻草，当饲养员判断母猪即将产仔时，再额外提供约2千克用于筑巢。产仔开始后，再额外给予1 - 2千克。对所有出生后5天内死亡的仔猪（n = 798）进行了尸检。三个主要的尸检结果是饥饿（34%）、被母猪挤压（28%）和肠炎（24%）。总之，策略性地使用大量稻草使每窝死产仔猪数量减少了27%（p = 0.007）。在所研究的条件下，存活仔猪的断奶前死亡率不受处理的影响；然而，尸检结果的分布有所不同，稻草组因饥饿死亡的仔猪较少，因挤压和肠炎死亡的仔猪较多。
