Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T05:40:20.109Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preweaning mortality in piglets in loose-housed herds: etiology and prevalence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 January 2018

C. Kielland ,
H. Wisløff ,
M. Valheim ,
A. K. Fauske ,
O. Reksen  and
T. Framstad
C. Kielland*
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, N-0033 Oslo, Norway
H. Wisløff
Affiliation:
Pathology Section, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, N-0106 Oslo, Norway
M. Valheim
Affiliation:
Pathology Section, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, N-0106 Oslo, Norway
A. K. Fauske
Affiliation:
Department of Basic Sciences and Aquatic Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, N-0033 Oslo, Norway
O. Reksen
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, N-0033 Oslo, Norway
T. Framstad
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, N-0033 Oslo, Norway
*
†E-mail: camilla.kielland@nmbu.no
Get access

Abstract

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.

Keywords

preweaning mortalitynecropsycauses of deathpathologypiglets
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 12 , Issue 9 , September 2018 , pp. 1950 - 1957
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alonso-Spilsbury, M, Mota-Rojas, D, Villanueva-Garcia, D, Martinez-Burnes, J, Orozco, H, Ramirez-Necoechea, R, Mayagoitia, AL and Trujillo, ME 2005. Perinatal asphyxia pathophysiology in pig and human: a review. Animal Reproduction Science 90, 1–30.Google Scholar
Andersen, IL, Berg, S and Bøe, KE 2005. Crushing of piglets by the mother sow (Sus scrofa) – purely accidental or a poor mother? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 93, 229–243.Google Scholar
Damm, BI, Pedersen, LJ, Heiskanen, T and Nielsen, NP 2005. Long-stemmed straw as an additional nesting material in modified Schmid pens in a commercial breeding unit: effects on sow behaviour, and on piglet mortality and growth. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 92, 45–60.Google Scholar
Edwards, SA 2002. Perinatal mortality in the pig: environmental or physiological solutions? Livestock Production Science 78, 3–12.Google Scholar
Edwards, SA, Smith, WJ, Fordyce, C and MacMenemy, F 1994. An analysis of the causes of piglet mortality in a breeding herd kept outdoors. Veterinary Record 135, 324–327.Google Scholar
Engblom, L, Eliasson-Selling, L, Lundeheim, N, Belák, K, Andersson, K and Dalin, A-M 2008. Post mortem findings in sows and gilts euthanised or found dead in a large Swedish herd. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 50, 25.Google Scholar
Fanaroff, AA and Martin, RJ 2002. Neonatal-perinatal medicine: diseases of the fetus and infant, 7th edition. Mosby, St. Louis, MO, USA.Google Scholar
Grøndalen, T, Liven, E, Djønne, BK, Gjestvang, MS, Jæger, G and Utlev, H 1986. Smågrisproduksjon og smågrisdødelighet i 13 norske besetninger. In English: Piglet production and mortality in Norwegian herds. Vestfold Norsk Veterinærtidsskrift 98, 611–622.Google Scholar
Hales, J, Moustsen, VA, Nielsen, MBF and Hansen, CF 2013. Individual physical characteristics of neonatal piglets affect preweaning survival of piglets born in a noncrated system. Journal of Animal Science 91, 4991–5003.Google Scholar
Ingris 2014. Årsstatistikk 2014 (Annual report). Retrieved on June 2014 from https://www.animalia.no/no/Dyr/husdyrkontrollene/ingris/arsstatistikk/ Google Scholar
Kielland, C, Rootwelt, V, Reksen, O and Framstad, T 2015. The association between immunoglobulin G in sow colostrum and piglet plasma. Journal of Animal Science 93, 4453–4462.Google Scholar
KilBride, AL, Mendl, M, Statham, P, Held, S, Harris, M, Cooper, S and Green, LE 2012. A cohort study of preweaning piglet mortality and farrowing accommodation on 112 commercial pig farms in England. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 104, 281–291.Google Scholar
Leenhouwers, JI, van der Lende, T and Knol, EF 1999. Analysis of stillbirth in different lines of 578 pig. Livestock Production Science 57, 243–253.Google Scholar
Muns, R, Nuntapaitoon, M and Tummaruk, P 2016. Non-infectious causes of pre-weaning mortality in piglets. Livestock Science 184, 46–57.Google Scholar
Pedersen, LJ, Berg, P, Jørgensen, G and Andersen, IL 2011. Neonatal piglet traits of importance for survival in crates and indoor pens. Journal of Animal Science 89, 1207–1218.Google Scholar
Pedersen, LJ, Jørgensen, E, Heiskanen, T and Damm, BI 2006. Early piglet mortality in loose-housed sows related to sow and piglet behaviour and to the progress of parturition. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 96, 215–232.Google Scholar
Quesnel, H, Farmer, C and Devillers, N 2012. Colostrum intake: influence on piglet performance and factors of variation. Livestock Science 146, 105–114.Google Scholar
Rootwelt, V, Reksen, O, Farstad, W and Framstad, T 2012. Associations between intrapartum death and piglet, placental, and umbilical characteristics. Journal of Animal Science 90, 4289–4296.Google Scholar
Rosvold, EM, Kielland, C, Ocepek, M, Framstad, T, Fredriksen, B, Andersen-Ranberg, I, Næss, G and Andersen, IL 2017. Management routines influencing piglet survival in loose-housed sow herds. Livestock Science 196, 1–6.Google Scholar
Schmidt, M, Winther, KD, Secher, JO and Callesen, H 2015. Postmortem findings in cloned and transgenic piglets dead before weaning. Theriogenology 84, 1014–1023.Google Scholar
Strange, T, Ask, B and Nielsen, B 2013. Genetic parameters of the piglet mortality traits stillborn, weak at birth, starvation, crushing, and miscellaneous in crossbred pigs. Journal of Animal Science 91, 1562–1569.Google Scholar
Varley, MA 1992. Neonatal survival: an overview. B.S.A.P. occasional publications volume 17, pp. 1–7. Wagtendonk-deGoogle Scholar
Viera, AJ and Garreth, JM 2005. Understanding interobserver agreement: the kappa statistic. Family Medicine 37, 360–363.Google Scholar
Weber, R, Keil, NM, Fehr, M and Horat, R 2009. Factors affecting piglet mortality in loose farrowing systems on commercial farms. Livestock Science 124, 216–222.Google Scholar
Westin, R, Holmgren, N, Hultgren, J, Ortman, K, Linder, A and Algers, B 2015. Post-mortem findings and piglet mortality in relation to strategic use of straw at farrowing. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 119, 141–152.Google Scholar