PIGLETS’ GROWTH PERFORMANCE IN THE FIRST 3 DAYS OF LIFE IN CONNECTION WITH SUCKLED MAMMARY GLANDS

Abstract

The trial was carried out in the maternity of a pig commercial farm, on three sows with 9 piglets each, during the first 3 days of life of the latter. We monitored the piglets for 72 hours daily from the point of view of the number of feedings per mammary gland to quantify the degree of use and milk production in relation with the anatomical location of the mammary glands. We could see there are daily variations of the daily weight gain in relation to their body weight at birth, and that mammary glands were differently used, i.e. the number of feedings is higher in pectoral mammary glands. Mean milk production per feeding varied between 14.49 and 59.73 ml, depending on the anatomical position and on the number of secreting cells in the mammary glands.

Keywords

• suckling piglets
• mammary gland milk production