INFORMATION SHEET NO. 2.

1-1
Care of Pregnant Sows
Learning Objectives:
After reading this INFORMATION SHEET, YOU MUST be able to:
1. take care of pregnant sows
2. manage pre-farrowing activities
Proper care of the sow during gestation, farrowing, and lactation is a
means to reach a goal – a large litter of healthy pigs birth that will remain
healthy and grow rapidly. Care during this time must also prepare the sow for
a successful repeat performance at the earliest time within the system of
weaning and rebreeding used. The sow must reach farrowing in the best
nutritional and microbiological health for herself and the expected litter.
Properly balanced rations should be fed in recommended amounts so that
newborn pigs are well developed and strong. A herd health program that
assures minimal exposure of the sow to disease or disease carriers during
gestation is essential for maximal litter survival during the first weeks of life
and for effective growth to weaning and market. The sows should be managed
in a gentle and confident manner and on a regular daily schedule.

Good care and management in the farrowing quarters has a major

influence on the number of liveborn piglets that are weaned and on how well
they perform in later stages of production. A successful caretaker understands
that newborn piglets have certain physical characteristics which make them
very reliant on proper management and care. Piglets are born without any
antibody protection, their bodies contain fat energy for about one day of life,
and they cannot regulate internal body temperature well until they are a few
days old. Thus, anything that may lead to a reduction in milk production or
consumption, such as chilling or exposure to disease organisms, compromises
the health and well-being of newborn piglets.