The newborn piglet is prone to hypothermia because of the body heat which is lost in evaporating birth fluids from its surface and because the climatic environment provided for the piglet at birth can be sub-optimal. If deep body temperature drops by over 2°C from the norm of 39° C the pig suffers from reduced locomotor vigour and becomes, more lethargic (Stephens, 1971). Such disadvantages can make the piglet less effective in competing for a teat and colostrum and also more prone to be overlain by the dam (English and Morrison, 1983). Because of the possible consequences of hypothermia, therefore, there is a need to quantify piglet body temperature trends from birth in the variable conditions provided for farrowing and to develop improved approaches for reducing the problem.Studies in newborn piglets were conducted on a large commercial unit in which farrowing took place in pens with solid floored front creeps with underfloor heating, while the remainder of the pen floor was of woven wire. Mean temperatures (4 cm above floor level) in the front creep and the remainder of the pen were 22.6°C and 21.4°C respectively. Rectal temperature (at a depth of 4 cm) was recorded using a hand held digital thermometer in 168 piglets in 17 litters at 10 minute intervals in the first hour of life, at hourly intervals thereafter up to 10 hours and also at hourly intervals from 24 to 36 hours of age.

The choice-feeding method has been suggested as an effective way of estimating nutritional requirements and it may be helpful from a practical point of view for meeting the nutrient requirements of animals with great variability in nutrient intake and requirements, for example sows in lactation. Friend (1971) reported high variability in protein intake in lactating sows on choice feeding. Growing rats (Leshner et al.,1971) respond to temperature changes by modifying the proportion of protein selected in order to maintain their protein intake. The main objective of this experiment was to investigate the ability of sows offered diets of different nutrient content to select the combination that best fits their requirement, particularly in relation to problems of reduced food intake routinely encountered in high summer temperatures.

Pigs which are small and relatively ill-thriving when their litter-mates are due to be weaned constitute a major problem in practice because they are much more difficult to establish after weaning than their larger litter-mates. Because of this, many producers foster 8 to 10 of these poorer pigs to a newly weaned ‘nurse’ sow following weaning from their own dam and delay weaning them for a further week or more. Such fostering of poor pigs when weaned from their own dam suffers from the disadvantage that it delays the rebreeding of the ‘nurse’ sow and it can be ineffective if the sow fails to milk well. The chore-time Baby Pig Feeder, developed at North Carolina State University, has the potential to cater for the needs of poorer pigs at weaning and to reduce the need for ‘nurse’ sows. The Chore-time is an automatic feeder which involves the mixing of dry milk substitute and cold water and delivery of the mixture to a round trough, around which up to 10 pigs can feed. It can be programmed for milk to be delivered at hourly intervals or less frequently. The usefulness of this equipment was evaluated on a 200 sow commercial unit in which weaning took place around 3 weeks of age.

In large scale commercial pig production the programmed replacement of culled sows by pregnant gilts is a major problem. Techniques for heat synchronisation in groups of gilts have been explored by a number of workers using a variety of materals such as methallibure, gonadotrophins and progesterone. One promising method involves the use of allyl-trenbolone as an agent for oestrous synchronisation (Varley, 1983; Stevenson and Davis, 1981). Another approach is to use a combination of gonadotrophins (PMSG and HCG) to induce ovulation and new oestrous cycles.The purpose of this study was to compare the value of these two techniaues under the same commercial conditions.

Pig producers must continuously strive for improved productivity and efficiency in order to remain competitive. The effect of sow culling rate on overall herd productivity is well documented in the scientific literature (Kroes and Van Male 1979, Dagom and Aumaitre 1979, Dujkhuizen 1986). Recent indications, however, are that there is still much room for improvement in the efficiency of sow culling policy. The objectives of this work were a) to determine the incidence of and reasons for culling in a modern 800 sow commercial pig farm using Large White x Landrace sows, and b) to attempt to develop a more objective basis for culling on poor litter performance (essentially low numbers born).