Factors affecting baby pig mortality

At the time of the first United States census in 1840, the corn growing areas of Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio were important centers of hog production (Ensminger, 1960), Tennessee is still in the top one fourth of the states in both value and numbers of swine, and Tennessee swine producers realize a gross income of 75 million dollars annually from swine (Robinson and Houston, 1958). In view of the importance of the swine industry in Tennessee, it should be realized that profit from any swine enterprise is determined to a great extent by the efficiency of production. Management is an important influence in the efficiency of production, especially management of the sow herd and management at farrowing time. Other factors of production are important and should not be overlooked, but every pig born represents a sizeable investment, and conversely, every pig lost represents a sizeable loss. These losses tend to be taken as a matter of course by many swine producers, but the financial loss remains a fact. Many papers have been written examining these losses under various' conditions, but none recently which dealt specifically with Tennessee conditions. With this in mind, the objective of this study was to examine some of the factors affecting baby pig mortality. More specifically, the problem was threefold: (1) to determine the percentage of stillborn pigs in a herd of swine and some of the factors that influence this percentage; (2) to examine the mortality rate of the pigs from birth to weaning and factors that influence this; and (3) to determine the ages at which the death losses occur.