Veterinary session

In modern pig farming, today a pig farm can be competitive almost exclusively by breeding hyper prolific sows. In many cases, the rearing of large numbers of litters cannot be ensured by a sow alone, given its anatomical potential, so it is essential to use some kind of nursing – cross fostering procedures on all breeds. The aim of our research was, first of all, to assess the methods used in Hungary today, to examine their effects on production and to compare them with the guidelines and data available in the animal science and veterinary literature.

During the survey, 4 different genetics were tested in several regions of the country, on a total of 7 farms, including nucleus (purebred) and end-product (slaughter pig producing) farms. Interviews were carried out with the workers involved in the cross fostering process. The measurements were run between March 2022 and October 2022, three times on each farms. The life history and body weight changes of 14 litters of a group of sows farrowed in a given week per farm were followed up from birth, 5th day of life and weaning day measurements. We recorded and monitored the transfer and performance of nursed piglets to a new sow and compared the growing results of the piglets with the literature to determine the effectiveness of the process. Where we had the opportunity, we also sought to measure colostrum’s’ immunoglobulin levels by refractometry and sow condition by backfat check.

The 1,404 individuals included in our measurements represent the total number of 8,380 sows in the farms, which represents 6% of the Hungarian domestic large-scale sow population. None of the farms used “colostrum cross fostering” of immunological and herd health management, while “classical” (sow-milk) nursing and “improvement nursing” was performed on at least 26% of the piglets. It can be said that one of our basic assumptions, that at least ¼ of the piglets born are directly affected by any type of cross fostering, was confirmed, as 25.6% of the followed up piglets were affected. Of the 360 piglets in the nursery procedure, 151 pcs (42%) of them showed better growth than their original littermates, while 124 (34%) showed a marked deterioration.

Our results show that at least a quarter of the expected piglet volume in the farrowing house is affected by cross fostering, which, depending on the correct and precise application of the methods, can directly influence the production indicators by up to 30-60%. In the current economic environment, it is essential that farms produce as effectively as possible, increasing and improving the number of piglets weaned per sow and their quality (uniformity). The way to do this is to educate, understand and develop appropriate nursing protocols and to continuously collect, manage and analyze the right amount of relevant data for these decision-making steps. Our research shows that these are currently not adequately available among the actors in the domestic pig sector.