Week 10

SWINE PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT

HOG ZOOLOGICAL SCHEME

KINGDOM: Animalia

PHYLUM: Chordata

CLASS: Mammalia

ORDER: Artiodactyla

FAMILY: Suidae

GENUS: Sus

SPECIES: Scrofa/vittatus

SUB-SPECIES: domesticus

Sus scrofa - is a wild hog of continental Europe from which most domestic swine have been derived.

Sus vittatus - was the chief, if not the only species of the East Indian pig that contributed to domestic swine.

BREEDS OF SWINE
1. The Philippine Native Swine

• Indigenous animals belong to a large undefined population of individuals without any uniform traits usually
ascribed to a breed.
• The local pig or Philippine Native pig belongs to this category, as they are small and lack the anatomical
symmetry of standard breeds.
• General characteristics: Small and late maturing, mostly solid black or black and white have small ears, sway back
and with weak pasterns.

Other Scientific Name

A, Luzon Warty pig -- Sus philippinensis B. Palawan Bearded pig - Sus barbatus

2. Purebreeds
1. Landrace
Origin
• First Landrace swine was developed in Denmark for the production of high quality bacon.
Characteristics
• The Landrace breed is white in color, although black skin spots or freckles are rather common.
• It is known as the longest breed of swine (16 to 17 ribs).
• This breed is known for its prolificacy and mothering ability under Philippine condition.
Disadvantage
• Weak legs and pasterns especially on the hind leg. Some strains of Landrace have narrow body and
long legs depending on the country of origin.
2. Yorkshire/Large White
Origin
• English bacon breed which had its origin in Yorkshire and neighboring countries in Northern England.
It was developed by selection and crossing with Leicester hog which was a white hog.
• The present Large White was developed in England.
Characteristics
• Yorkshire should be entirely white in color.
• Yorkshire sows are noted as good mothers (Mother Breed).
• They not only farrow or raise large litters, but are great milkers.
• The pigs are excellent foragers and compare favorably with those of any other breed in economy of
gains.
Disadvantage:
• Some individuals in this herd are relatively short and with big belly and they tend to develop
carcasses with excess back fat.
3. Duroc
Origin:
• The Duroc breed of hogs had its origin in the eastern United States and in the Corn Belt.
• It would seem presumptuous today to attempt to identify the foundation stock of the breed, which
was originally called the Duroc-Jersey.
Characteristics
• Duroc has solid colors, ranging from very high light golden to very dark red that approaches the color
of mahogany.
• The head is small in proportion to the body and the jowl is medium in size. The length of its legs is
proportional to the depth and length of its body.
Performance
• Duroc is considered a superior breed in terms of growth rate and feed efficiency. It has a good
muscle quality and is probably the most resistant to stress.
Disadvantage
• Some individuals have a strong tendency to have a well arched back which is undesirable because
this animal do not stay long in the breeding herd.
• Unsound front and hind legs that may lead to stiff gilt or lameness are also encountered in some
animals.
4. Pietrain
Origin:
• Pietrain, Belgium, the village from which the breed takes its name, was the birthplace of the breed.
Characteristics:
• This breed may be appropriately called the "muscle" pigs because it is well known for its outstanding
muscle development in the ham, loin and shoulder.
• The backfat is very thin. The motherly ability is well within acceptable level.
Disadvantage:
• Because of the relatively well-muscled ham, the number one problem of this breed is usually
weakness of the hind legs which do not develop as fast as the ham muscle. This breed is also known
for being a slow grower and being highly susceptible to stress.
5. Hampshire
Origin:
• Hampshire breed traces its origin to Southern England.
• But the first Hampshire Swine Record was organized in Boone country Kentucky, just across the Ohio
River from Cincinnati.
Characteristics:
• The most striking characteristic of the Hampshire is the white belt around the shoulder and body
including the foreleg.
Performance:
• Feed efficiency, length and ham-loin percent of this breed is excellent.
Disadvantage:
• Low liter size at birth and at weaning, poor mothering ability and latte maturing. Being black is also
an objection because it is associated with thick backfat is also an objection because it is associated
with thick backfat and with difficulty in dressing/cleaning during slaughtering.
6. Berkshire
Origin
• South Central England, principally in the countries of Berkshire and Wiltshire.
Characteristics
• The distinct peculiarity of the Berkshire breed is the short and sometimes upturned nose.
• The color is black with six white points, four white feet, one point on the forehead; and another on
the switch of the tail.
Disadvantage
• This breed has a small liter size at birth and at weaning, late maturing, thick backfat and the black
skin.
7. Poland of China
Origin
• South-western Ohio in the fertile area known as the Miami Valley. It is also known as the "Hot Type"
of "big Type Poland China."
Characteristics
• Modern Poland China is black in color with six distinct white points, the four feet, poll of the head
and switch of the tail.
8. List of other Purebreds
a. Spotted
b. Limousine
c. Chester white
d. Hereford
e. Tani worth
f. Large black
g. Chinese Taiho pigs
• Fujian
• Meishan
• Jan Xiang black
• Erhuallian

Meishan
• From China, considered Taiho pigs, deriving their name from the Taiho Lake
• Slow growing and fat, but have a very good taste, resistant to some diseases
• The Meishan breed is known for its wrinkled face and skin.
• Meishan pigs are perhaps one of the most prolific breeds of pig in the world
o Large litter size of 15-16 pigs.

Upgrades
Upgrading: native pigs bred with foreign breeds
• Diani - upgrade of native pigs (Batangas) with Berkshire
• Kaman - upgrade of native pig (Batangas) with Duroc
• Berkjala - 5/8 Berkshire and 3/8 Jalajala pig (Rizal)
• Miracle Pig – 1/2 Large White 1/4 Landrace 1/4 Native
Hybrid pigs or synthetic breeds
• Do not have distinguishing physical characteristics which differentiate them from other group of pigs.
• Most of them are white with good muscle development.
• Examples are: Babcock, Camborough, Cotswold, Hypor, Seghers, Minnesota No.1, Niew Dalland

PRODUCTION SYSTEM
A. Sow Herd Enterprise
Farrow to feeder operation
- This type of operation starts with a pregnant gilt/sow to produce pigs weanlings, which are sold to other
raisers who grows then until the marketable weight is achieved.
Farrow to finish operation
- The producer in this type of operation also starts with a pregnant gilt/sow to produce the breeders stocks,
specifically junior boars and replacement gilts.
B. Growing-Finishing Enterprise
- The swine raiser in this type of operation starts with feeder/weanlings and carries them to slaughter, weight
of about 80 to 90 kg.
C. Board-for-Hire-Enterprise
- The producer in this type of operation starts with a young boar, which he grows and trains to breeder age.
- The boar is used to breed the gilts/sows in the community for a fee.
-
MANAGEMENT OF THE BOAR
Boar
• It is one of the most important animals in a pig enterprise.
• A board will generally produce 15 to 20 times as many offspring per year as do breeding female in the herd.
• A period of at least 1 to 2 months before the breeding season begins is enough time for the boar to get adjusted
to the new environmental

Characteristics of a good boar:

• At least 6 pairs of rudimentary teats (NOT FUNCTIONAL), not inverted
• 2 big equally-sized testicles (NOT 2 PAIRS)
• Strong legs
• Strong slightly arched back
• Toes not uneven (NO SMALL INSIDE TOE)

Characteristics of average ejaculate

Characteristics:
Volume, ml. 150-200*
Sperm concentration, million/ml. 200-300
Total sperm per ejaculate, billion 30-60
Total sperm per week, billion 120-150
Motile sperm, % 70
Morphologically normal sperm, % 80
Color Creamy white
Test Mating
- Test mating provides an opportunity to observe the new boar’s sexual behavior and his ability to serve the
gilt normally.
Feeding Boars
- Feed boars 2.3 to 3.0 kg of ration with 13 to 14% crude protein.
- In the tropics, voluntary water consumption may be as high as 4 to 5 liters of water per kg of air-dry feed.
Housing and Environment
- The pen measurement is 0.6 m x 2.1-m with a height of 1.1 meters. If the boar pen doubles as the service
area, allow between 5 to 7 square meters of floor area.
- Use of individual pens or stalls eliminates fighting, riding, and competition for feed.
Reproductive Phenomena
- A boar should start serving at 8 months of age.
- Some boar reaches sexual maturity as early as 100 to 147 days of age.
Breeding Frequency
Recommended service for boards
Junior Boar Senior Boar
(8 mos. – 1 year) (more than 1 year)
Service per:
Day 1 2
Week 5 7
Month 20 30

Boar to Sow Ratio

- 1 young boar: 20 breeding females in the herd to take over the breeding work in case one or two of the herd
boars become incapacitated for one reason or another.

In a multiple farrowing program, the recommended number of boars needed for a given sow population is as follows:
a. Two services per sow per heat period.
- 15 sows or less - One boar if boar is at least 15 months old
- 15 - 25 sows - Two boars
b. One service per heat period
- 20 sows or less - One boar if young boar
- 30 sows or less - One boar if boar is at least 15 months.

CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF SOWS AND GILTS

Prior to Pregnancy
- Under good management, sows have tremendous capability to produce 2.3 liters per year or over 20 pigs
annually.
-

Raising and Selecting Replacement Gilts

- A steady supply of replacement gilts is required to replace sows, which die or are culled because of poor
performance.
- Plan to replace 40 to 55 percent of your herd annually, if your herd age is five litters or less.
*Breed Choice
- The crossbreed female is preferred for commercial production.
- They have the added advantage of hybrid vigor.
MANAGEMENT OF THE DEVELOPING GILTS
- Raise potentials gilt replacement in all female group in dry, well - ventilated pens that provide 0.56 to 0.74
m2 of floor space per animal.

Pre-Service Management of Replacement Gilt

A. Flushing
- Increasing the daily feed intake of gilts by 0.5 kg to 1.0 kg for 10 to 14 days before service should increase the
number of eggs ovulated if they were limit fed at 2 kg per day before flushing.
- A better practice is to self- feed the gilts with a 14% protein gestation ration throughout the pre-service
period.
B. Recommendations at First Breeding
- Breed gilt at eight months and at 110-120 kg.
- Gilts should have their first litter at one-year age.
- It is further recommended that gilt be bred on the second heat cycles when the animal is standing heat.

MANAGEMENT AT BREEDING TIME

Developing a Breeding Schedule
- Determine adequate boar power by considering the number of services required per week, not the number
of sows and boar.
- Each sow should be served twice. Boars that serve twice in a day with a day rest between breeding, an
allowance should be made for one boar a sow during the week.

Mating System
Mating system vary as to amount of labor involved, ease of obtaining accurate breeding records and facility
requirements.
1. Artificial Insemination
2. Hand Mating
- This is the preferred mating system.
- The operator checks for heat and takes the female in heat to the boar.
Its advantages are:
a. The operator knows for certain that the females were bred b. Accurate breeding dates can be recorded
b. The operator can accurately check for return to heat
c. Boar use is regulated
d. Anestrus problems can be determined earlier
e. A more accurate sire breeding performance can be calculated
f. Fewer boars are required for the same number of females

Note: The main disadvantages are that more labor and closer observation are required.

3. Pen-mating - a boar runs with a group of females.

1. Although less labor intensive more boar can handle 8 to 10 females in a 21-day breeding period.
2. A young boar (8 to 12 months) can effectively service from four to six sows in the same period.

Note: The main disadvantage of pen-mating is that record of breeding dates, boar services rate and female return to heat
dates are often unknown expect when the headsman observes a mating.
Heat Detection
Proper and accurate heat detection is important for a successful mating system.

A. Physical Signs
✓ Vulva maybe swollen and red
✓ Clear viscous vaginal discharges
✓ Restless and grunting
✓ Mounting behavior
✓ Frequent attempts to urinate with little or no discharges
B. Techniques
Haunch-Pressure Test: The operator should approach the sow from behind and rub her sides and thigh.
Riding-the back-test: This technique is applied by riding or merely pressing the back of the animal.
Semen-on-the-snout test: This test is particularly important in artificial insemination although it can be applied
in natural breeding.
Teaser boar: Allowing a boar but preferably one that has been vasectomized to mount the sow.
Sound Test: Use of chomping sounds of the boar.

The estrous cycle ranges from 17 to 24 days, with an average of 21 days. Estrous cycle is continuously manifested by the
individual unless interrupted by pregnancy.
Estrous = cycle
Estrus phase in the estrous cycle when a female is sexually receptive, "in heat"

MANAGEMENT DURING THE GESTATION

- The normal gestation length of the swine is 114 days with a range of 109 to 119 days. Or simply put, 3 months,
3 weeks & 3 days.

Housing and Environment

• Be careful when mixing gilts with mature sows and keep group size at no more than five or six per pen.
• Avoid any stress-producing situation, especially during the first three weeks after breeding.
• When gestating stalls are used, partially slatted floors behind the sow are recommended to ensure a dry area for
the sow and to reduce cleaning time.
• The edges of the stats should be rounded to avoid damage to feet or teats.
• In a penning situation, allow about 1.85 m2 per bred sow or gilt.
• Stall measurement of about 0.5x 2.13 m are recommended.

Feeding Level
- Normally, 1.8 to 2.3 kg of balanced 14 percent crude protein ration will meet the daily nutrient requirements and
free of heavy parasite infestation.

Feeding in the Sow in the Late Pregnancy

- The growth of the developing embryos increases rapidly in the final third of pregnancy.
- Also at this time, the transfer of nutrients from the dam to the fetus increases gradually and retention in the
uterus and mammary glands develop accordingly.

The greater demand for feed in the last trimester of pregnancy can be satisfied by increasing the level of feeding to at
least 15 percent level of 2.0 kg for primigestation and light multigestation sows, and 10% for the fully grown or heavy
multigestation sows.

Weight during Gestation

• Weight gain during gestation will represent about 23-27 kg for mature sows and bout 30-41 kg for gilts and
young sows.
• The weight loss at farrowing (litter weight and fluids) is about 22 to 27 kg.
• After the fourth litter, there should be little if any net weight gain.
• A sow body weight should be about 163 kg after weaning for each successive reproductive cycle.

MANAGEMENT DURING THE FARROWING

*Farrowing period and the first weeks of lactation are critical in swine production.

Basic Farrowing System

• Continues farrowing: Sows to farrow are seen through a facility in a continues flow with no break for total room
sanitation.
• All in, All Out Batch Farrowing System: Groups of sows due to farrow during the week are brought into individual
rooms over a short time period.

Pre Farrowing Operations

• Preparing the Farrowing Quarters: Thoroughly clean the whole farrowing room or area.
• Wash Sow: Before placing the sow in the farrowing unit, thoroughly wash her with a mild soap solution and rinse
with warm water.
• Transferring Sows: To acquaint sows with their new surroundings, place them in the farrowing until 5 to 7 days
before expected date of farrowing.
• Parasite Control: Deworm sows 10 to 14 days before transferring them to the farrowing stalls.
• Feeding the sow Prior to Farrowing: Constipation of the sow at farrowing is a condition which needs to be kept
under control. Constipation can be avoided or corrected by feeding the sow a bulky or laxative diet one week
before she is due to farrow.

Farrowing
A. Signs of Farrowing
✓ She is restless, nervous and often bites the wall or stall partition
✓ She starts build a nest
✓ There is distinct swelling of the mammary apparatus
✓ There is slackening of the abdominal wall.
✓ Milk let - down: The presence of milk when the teats are stripped indicates that the sow will farrow within
24 hours.
B. Supervised Farrowing
The Need for an Attendant: The care and attention given to the piglets from the time they are farrowed until
they weaned are very important. An attendant should be presented to assists the newly born pigs and the sow if
necessary.
Reasons:
• Reduced stillborn pigs
• Minimize crushing
• Prevent starvation
• Prevent predators
• Avoid cannibalism
• Minimize dystocia (difficulty in giving birth)

Causes of Difficulty on Birth

➢ Lack of uterine inertia - 37%
➢ Fetal Impression - 35.5%
➢ Obstruction of the Birth Canal - 13.0%
➢ Deviation of the Uterus - 9.5%
➢ Hysteria - 3%
➢ Oversized fetus - 4%

MANAGEMENT AFTER FARROWING

Average Daily Gain
Final Weight − Initial Weight
𝐀𝐃𝐆 =
Number of feeding days
Feed Efficiency (Feed Conversion Ratio) FE amount of feed consumed
amount of feed consumed
𝐅𝐄 =
Gain in weight
*Lower FE, better performance

Health Care
• Inspect the sow's mammary apparatus for congestion, inflammation, laceration and other forms of injuries. If
these are presented watch out for MMA Syndrome.
• Metritis (Inflammation or Infection of the Uterus).
• Mesatitis (Inflammation of the Udder)
• Agalactica (Inadequate Supply of Milk).

Immediately after weaning the multiparous sows should be vaccinated against hog cholera at least twice a year.

Feeding During Lactation

• Usually it takes about 7 days from farrowing for milk production and feed requirements of the piglets to justify
liberal feeding of the sow.
• Recommended level- 4.5-5kg of air dry feed/head/day for lactating sows and gilts.
• To avoid this problem on overfeeding or underfeeding, the feeding level for lactating sows should be based on
the number of pigs in the litter rather than on a per sow basis.
• A sow with 12 suckling pigs should receive 2.0 kg feed for maintenance plus 1.0 kg for every three piglets in the
litter or a total of 6.0 kg per day.

Care and Management of the Baby Pig from Birth to Weaning.

• Birth weight is important because heavier pigs at birth tend to be heavier at weaning and even growing.

Keeping Newly Born Piglets Warm and Comfortable to Keep Them Alive
• An estimate showed that 15% of the baby's pig body's heat is lost to the floor by conduction
• Roughly 10% thorough the normal evaporation of water from the respiratory tract and skin.
• Of the various sources of heat, it is believed that the straw that the straw bedding is still the most effective
means of providing the baby pigs with comfortable environment. It permits the piglets to alter their
environment in order to meet the needs of the moment.
• Correct environmental temperature is most critical during the first 6 days of post natal life when the thermal
insulation of the pig is at its lowest.
• The capacity of the pig to regulate body temperature starts to improve gradually only on the 7th day onwards up
to the 20th day when full important to provide the baby pigs supplemental heat to prevent serious losses from
chilling.
• The presence of artificial heat source in the farrowing unit also helps prevent losses from crushing because it
attracts the baby pigs baby pigs prefer a temperature ranging from 30-31 °C for the first week at birth, 29°C to
30°C after the first week until the 6th week and declines as the pig grows older (26 to 30°C for 50 kg pigs and 17
to 22°C for a 100 kg pig).

Cutting of Umbilical Cord

• The umbilical cord is very vital organ for the growth and development of the fetus during the pregnancy but
becomes an unnecessary appendage and crucial area for the entrance of infection after the pig is born.
• Tie the umbilicus about 1 to 2 inches from the base with a sterile thread

Cutting the Needle Teeth

• Pigs are born with 4 pairs of sharp teeth (two on each jaws) called "black" teeth because of their darker color
compared with the incisors. Some authors refers to them as "needle" or "wolf" teeth because, they should be cut
immediately after birth because they do more harm than good to the producers.

Prevention of Tail Biting

• Tail biting is major problem in many commercial swine farms in the country.
• Tail biting can be triggered off by an injury to the tail and it requires only one pig in a group to start biting and the
other quickly follow suit.
• Other reports indicated that it could be due to the excess humidity, trapped stale air, and sudden charges in the
weather, shortage of protein and excess energy in the diets.

Other dietetic factors include:

A.) Shortage of Fiber
B.) Excessively high or excessively low calcium
C.) Deficiency of salt in the diet
• Parasite infection is another, which has been incriminated as the cause of tail biting. A pig with worms tends to
switch its tail sharply and angrily.

Feeding the Suckling Pigs with Colostrum

Colostrum is exceedingly rich in these protective molecules and it is imperative that each newborn piglet
consumes colostrum within hours of birth in order to received adequate immunity against infective organism. The gut of
the piglets can absorb these large molecules intact only for short period after birth the absorption takes place within an
hour of suckling, initially complete after 6 hours and by 16 hours after birth it is no longer possible.

Identifying the Piglets

1. Ear notching
o This is one of the most/ common method used in identifying individual pigs in the litter.
o A notch on the ear is permanent but unsightly and difficult to read when obliterated through injuries.
o It compromises of cutting a V shaped notch/es on specific places along the borders of the ear by means
of a earnotcher or scissors.
2. Tattooing
o It consists of piercing outlines of desired numbers or figures on the skin inside ear and the incorporating
a black vegetables pigment into their punctures.
o The use of the tattoo method in identifying swine is not popular as ear notching although it is good as far
as permanency of the mark is concerned.
o Tattooing is often performed on older pigs, using a tattoo- ear marking outfit to which the desired set of
numbers is fitted.
3. Ear Tagging
• Tags or labels are made up of light metal or strong plastic with the number stamped on them. Tags are
fixed generally to the ear with a special tagging forceps.
• There are two types of tags:
1. Self-piercing types
2. non-piercing types

Prevention of Baby Pig Anemia

• Baby pig anemia is an old and well known disease problem to the progressive producers.
• This disease is brought about by a deficiency iron due to inefficient placental and mammary transfer of iron to
the piglets.

Signs of Iron Deficiency Anemia

Clinical Signs
✓ Poor Growth
✓ Rough hair coat
✓ Inactive and depressed
✓ Diarrhea
Pallor (Paleness of gums, eyelids, lips and skin)
✓ Anoxia (deficiency of oxygen reaching the tissue of the body)
Subclinical signs
✓ Hypochronic microcytic anemia
✓ Enlargement heart and spleen
✓ Enlarge fatty liver
✓ Ascites (accumulation of serious fluid in the abdomen)
✓ Clumping of erythroblastic cells in bone marrow
✓ Pale internal organs
✓ Thin, white runny blood

Creep Feeding the Baby Pigs

• Begin feeding the creep feed when the nursing pigs are about one week of age to make sure that they will be
consuming sufficient amounts of the dry feed before milk production starts to decline.
• It is also help a great deal in preparing the piglet for the diet on which it would have to live on after weaning.

Rearing the Orphan Pigs

• Orphan pigs are brought about by a number of factors like death of the sow after farrowing udder disturbances,
lactation failure and too many pigs in a litter.
• There are various possibilities of rearing orphan pigs. Some of these are fostering, artificial feeding and rotational
feeding.

Castration
• The removal of the primary sex organ of the male is done when the pigs are about two weeks from birth or
earlier.
• When castrating pigs, age, health condition and susceptibility to stressful condition of the animal must be
consider.

WEANING THE PIGLETS

• Weaning practices had changed gradually from the traditional weaning to early weaning and finally to artificial
rearing with the ultimate objective of increasing the number of pigs weaned per sow per year.

1. Traditional weaning (TW)

o In traditional weaning the pigs are weaned at 8 to 10 weeks of age which has been the usual practice in
the past. With a gestation period of 114 days and a dry period of 26 days on the average, a sow under
the system will have only 1.7 to 1.9 farrowing per year.

2. Conventional Weaning (CW)

o In conventional weaning the pigs are usually weaned at5 or 6 to 7 weeks of age.

3. Early weaning (EW)

o Early weaning as prescribed by the progressive commercial swine operators, entails weaning at 3 to 4
weeks of age.

4. Very early weaning (VEW)

o Included under the very early weaning (VEW) category is artificial rearing (1 to 2 days weaning) and
weaning from a few days (3 to 7 days) from birth to2 weeks.

CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF GROWING FINISHING PIGS

Growing finishing stage

• The period from weaning to a slaughter weight of about 80 to 100 kilograms.

Scour Control (Diarrhea)

• The most common cause of mortality and weight setbacks in weaning pigs
• The infectious agents causing the disease complex usually multiply in unsanitary facilities although they may also
appear in relatively clean farms.

Gastro-Intestinal Parasite Control

• Deworming of growing-finishing pigs 1 or 2 weeks after weaning is generally recommended as part of a sound
health program.
• A second treatment 1/2-1 to 2 months after the first treatment is necessary because it takes approximately
about a month for the large roundworm to complete its entire life cycle so that
• the larvae not killed by the first treatment is vulnerable as adults.

External Parasite Control

• The major parasites causing the problem are the mango mites such as the Scnoptes scabiel and the Demodex
phyllodes.
o S. Scabiel, the most common mite, burrow into the upper two-thirds of the dermis.
o Demodex phylloides infestation seldom occurs in swine. The mites live in the hair follicles and cause a
pimple like lesion.

Vaccination
Hog cholera is nearly 100 percent fatal to pigs of all ages, and its virulence resistance to antibiotics and other drugs for
treatment, and highly contagious nature make it difficult to control.
• Growing-finishing pigs are best-vaccinated 2 weeks after weaning or 1 week after deworming, if deworming
precedes vaccination.
• If pasturing is practiced, keep the pigs indoors until about 2 weeks when full immunity must have been attained.
• When using live-virus vaccines, observe extra care because improper handling may lead to serious hazards.

Feeding
• It has been observed that when the shift in the feed is done abruptly, the pigs especially the young ones develop
diarrhea so that to avoid the problem it is important to shift them. gradually from one diet to another.

Feeding Systems
• Ad libitum feeding. Giving feeds without restriction and always available at any time.
• Restricted feeding. Controlled amount of feed given to the animals.
• Combination of ad libitum and restricted feeding. Fed ad lib until they reach the weight of 50 kg and fed restricted
until they are marketed. Maximizing the advantage of the growth curve.

Ration and Crude Protein Requirement:

Type of Ration Crude Protein Requirement (NRC, 1998)
Creep 22 – 23%
Pre-starter 19 – 20%
Starter 17 – 18%
Grower 15 – 16%
Finisher 13 – 14%
Gestating 13 – 14%
Lactating 15 – 16%
Boar 16%