1Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,Norwegian University of Life Sciences,N-0033 Oslo,Norway.
2Pathology Section,Norwegian Veterinary Institute,N-0106 Oslo,Norway.
Animal. 2018 Sep;12(9):1950-1957. doi: 10.1017/S1751731117003536. Epub 2018 Jan 8.
Preweaning mortality in piglets is a welfare issue, as well as an ethical and economic concern in commercial pig farming. Studying the causes of preweaning mortality and their prevalence is necessary to reduce losses. Preweaning piglet mortality was investigated in a field study including 347 sows from 14 loose-housed Norwegian piglet-producing herds. A total of 5254 piglets were born in these herds during the study period, and 1200 piglets were necropsied. The cause of death was based on pathoanatomical diagnosis (PAD). Preweaning mortality of all piglets in the study was 23.4%, including 6.3% stillborn. The two main causes of preweaning mortality in live-born piglets (n=4924) were trauma (7.1%) and starvation (2.7%). Piglets dying of an infection accounted for 2.0%. Among the necropsied piglets (n=1200), 29.1% had died due to trauma, 26.8% were categorized as stillborn and 11% had died of starvation. Piglets that had died of trauma, had a mean time of death of 1 lactation day (LD 1), ranging from LD 0 to LD 21. The mean time of death of piglets that died due to bacterial infection was LD 9, ranging from LD 0 to LD 31, with Escherichia coli accounting for most infections found in necropsied piglets. Farmers were able to identify death by trauma in piglets, but were less able to identify death due to hunger. Most piglets that died in the preweaning period, died of trauma. Surprisingly, this included large and well-fed piglets. The second most prevalent cause of preweaning mortality was starvation. Improved monitoring may reveal piglets with low body mass index, and additional nutrition may contribute to increase the survival rate.
仔猪的哺乳期前死亡率不仅是一个福利问题，也是商业养猪中的一个伦理和经济问题。研究哺乳期前死亡率的原因及其流行程度对于降低损失是必要的。在一项包括来自 14 个自由放养的挪威仔猪生产场的 347 头母猪的田间研究中，研究了哺乳期前仔猪死亡率。在研究期间，这些猪场共出生了 5254 头仔猪，其中 1200 头仔猪进行了剖检。死亡原因基于病理解剖学诊断（PAD）。研究中所有仔猪的哺乳期前死亡率为 23.4%，包括 6.3%的死产。活产仔猪（n=4924）哺乳期前死亡的两个主要原因是创伤（7.1%）和饥饿（2.7%）。死于感染的仔猪占 2.0%。在剖检的仔猪（n=1200）中，29.1%死于创伤，26.8%被归类为死产，11%死于饥饿。死于创伤的仔猪，死亡时间平均为 1 个哺乳期 1 天（LD 1），范围从 LD 0 到 LD 21。死于细菌感染的仔猪的平均死亡时间为 LD 9，范围从 LD 0 到 LD 31，大肠杆菌占剖检仔猪中发现的大多数感染。农民能够识别仔猪因创伤而死亡，但识别饥饿导致的死亡的能力较差。大多数在哺乳期前死亡的仔猪死于创伤。令人惊讶的是，这包括体型较大和营养良好的仔猪。哺乳期前死亡率的第二个主要原因是饥饿。加强监测可能会发现体重指数较低的仔猪，额外的营养可能有助于提高存活率。
