PATTERNS OF PREWEANING DIARRHEA IN PIGLETS ON A CENTRAL CALIFORNIA RANCH

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 48  (4) , 394-401
Abstract
To determine risk factors for development of diarrhea in litters of preweaned piglets, data were analyzed from records of 4397 litters of swine farrowed on a central California ranch 1978-1982. Of litters, 64% were treated for diarrhea. Statistical analysis by multiple logistic regression showed that litters born to young sows (parity .ltoreq. 2) were 1.7 times more likely to develop diarrhea before weaning than were litters born to older sows (parity .gtoreq. 3) and that litters born on one end of farrowing barns were 1.3 times more likely to develop diarrhea than were litters born in the other end. The association of diarrhea with other variables: dam breed, sire, gestation group, gestation length, size of litter, number of mummies, runts or stillbirths per litter, farrowing barn of birth or day of the week farrowed was weak or nonexistent (P > 0.01).