Communal piglet rearing

Although this UK pig breeder might not have marketed as many pigs annually as he would with a three-week weaning system, he found communal rearing more profitable.

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When nine out of 10 baby-piglet deaths are due to crushing by sows within the first four days of life, why keep mothers and litters in costly individual farrowing stalls after those four hazardous days have passed?

An ever-growing number of breeders overseas are now letting these families out of confinement only a few days after birth - without a rise in piglet mortality. You need fewer farrowing pens and equipment than you do if you keep the new mothers locked up for a full three, four weeks or even longer. The new technique is called 'communal rearing'. Soon after the four-day danger period is over, sows and litters are grouped and housed together until weaning.

Here's a typical routine in a modern open-plan maternity house where batch-farrowing is practised. Two days after farrowing, the partition walls between three or four pens are removed and the piglets are allowed to fraternise. Cross-sucking occurs, but it is not a problem. It can be a benefit in the case of variable-sized litters, particularly to the smallest piglets. Two days later, the sows and litters are transferred to follow-on pens where they remain until weaning.

Most breeders group three or four sows and litters - the same families that co-existed in the farrowing house. But some claim success with batches of six or even eight.