A. G. Koshchaev, S. V. Kostenko
Kuban State Agrarian University, Krasnodar, Russia
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Volume 25 No. 7
Date of paper submission: 21.05.2025, date of review: 03.06.2025, date of acceptance: 25.06.2025
Published: 07/31/2025
Abstract. The purpose is to compare the productive qualities of sows and piglets with early socialization of sucklings in a group housing system and in a single-nest rearing system. Methods. Five days before the expected farrowing, full-aged pregnant sows of Landrace × Yorkshire were individually placed in farrowing machines. The experimental groups were formed on the fourth day after farrowing (n = 40). In the control group, the nests were standardized in terms of the number of productive nipples in sows and the animals were kept according to the traditional technology adopted by the farm. In the experimental group, nests were formed without taking into account the number of functional nipples, according to the number of live piglets during farrowing, and a multi-nest housing system was used, in which suckers from four adjacent machines were combined. Scientific novelty. Based on comprehensive research, a scientific justification is given and principles are formulated for increasing the realization of the genetic potential of hyperproductive sows due to the early socialization of suckling piglets by combining several multiple nests without disbanding them. The results obtained are an important contribution to solving the issue of improving the technology of industrial production of pig products, will maximize the productivity of sows and increase the competitiveness of the industry in modern conditions. Results. It has been established that the socialization of piglets in group lactation systems by combining several nests has a positive effect on the productive qualities of sows and suckers, as well as the amount of pre-starter feed consumed by them. Piglets placed in the group housing system during the suckling period outperformed their peers in the control group in terms of the amount of pre-starter feed consumed by 18.2 %, with an average daily increase of 2.8 %, but were inferior in safety by 1.7 %. The best reproductive qualities were shown by the sows of the experimental group: in the first 7 days after weaning, 90.0 % of the queens started hunting and fruitfully seeded, which exceeded the control by 2.5 % with an average duration of the service period of 4.9 and 5.3 days, respectively.
Keywords: piglets, sows, suckling period, nests, safety, socialization, growth rate, starter consumption
For citation: Koshchaev A. G., Kostenko S. V. The effectiveness of socialization in suckling piglets from multiple nests without their disbandment. Agrarian Bulletin of the Urals. 2025; 25 (07): 1074‒1084. https://doi.org/10.32417/1997-4868-2025-25-07-1074-1084 (In Russ.)
Download the full text of the article
