Handling Associated with Drenching Does Not Impact Survival and General Health of Low Birth Weight Piglets

摘要

In the modern pig industry, one of the main goals has been to increase litter sizes, and thus, improve sows’ production efficiency. However, this increase in litter size has also resulted in an elevated number of low birth weight piglets and a higher perinatal mortality. In an attempt to reduce mortality in low birth weight piglets, many studies focus on drenching bioactive substances. However, most studies only focus on the supplement and neglect any potential effect of drenching itself. Given that low birth weight piglets are often very weak, drenching might provoke additional stress, and consequently, nullify the effect of the supplement or even negatively affect the piglet’s health. In this study, low birth weight piglets were sham drenched by conducting the drenching act without a liquid (putting an empty syringe into the animal’s mouth) to evaluate the effect of drenching on their body weight, health and mortality. No negative or positive effect of drenching was observed, and thus, it was concluded that drenching is a safe tool that can be implemented in good pre-weaning management. However, studies that examine the oral supplementation of bioactive substances should always include a sham and a negative control group to ensure that the observed results can be attributed to the supplement, rather than the act of drenching.