Section 2 | Diarrhea In Piglets

Farm Management

It is critical to reduce piglet exposure to infectious pathogens. To accomplish this, you must ensure that hygiene is a priority for the farrowing room and the nursery barn. Improved hygiene can be accomplished through:

All In, All Out Management

Using all in, all out (AIAO) housing systems are an effective way to minimize exposure of young piglets to infectious agents. This type of management involves moving groups or crops of animals into a barn together, and moving them out at the same time as well. This allows for thorough cleaning and disinfection between groups, and reduces the stress associated with continuous mixing of animals of varying disease status. It’s about breaking the cycle of disease transmission between older animals with more advanced pathogen exposure and young, susceptible piglets. Ensure that the facilities are washed to remove organic material, disinfected with an effective product, and allowed to dry thoroughly.

Hygiene During the Farrowing Batch

It is also important to ensure strict hygiene in farrowing pens. Making sure there is not a buildup of manure, and that the environment is clean and dry is critical to prevent new cases of diarrhea. It is also important to ensure that biosecurity is maintained between farrowing rooms.

Do this by working from the rooms containing the youngest piglets to the oldest rooms. Using disinfectant foot baths, wearing gloves and changing them between rooms and/or pens can also prevent the spread of illness.