INTRODUCTION There are a number of situations which might require artificial rearing of piglets. For whole litters, these include circumstances where the sow dies after farrowing or shows agalactia. There are also increasing situations in which individual piglets are unable to obtain sufficient milk if left in their natal litters, as a result of selection for hyperprolificacy in sows and the consequence of litter sizes which exceed functional teat numbers. As hyperprolificacy becomes standard within herds, the scope for cross-fostering to alleviate such problems is often insufficient. It is therefore important to develop viable alternative methods for artificial rearing of piglets which would otherwise starve.
By Asian – Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences