Operations and Supply Chain Management Commons^™

Lethargy And Low Water Intake By Sows During Early Lactation: A Cause Of Low Piglet Weight Gains And Survival?, David Fraser, P. A. Phillips

Farm Animal Husbandry Collection

Daily water intake was monitored for 40 sows during 5 days before and 14 days after farrowing. Intake averaged 9-12 l day^‒1 before farrowing, dropped to a mean of 6 l on the day of farrowing and increased gradually over 4 days to a plateau of ~14 l day^‒1. Sows varied greatly in the degree of reduction in intake during the day of farrowing and the first 3 days of lactation, and those sows with low water intake on these days had low average weight gains by the piglets in the same period. Most of the piglet …