Electrolytes for Piglets

It is common for veterinarians and breeders to recommend adding electrolytes to your pig’s water, especially if they’re sick.

What are electrolytes? Electrolytes provide nutrients like chloride, sodium, potassium and calcium. These are the nutrients that are most important for your pig’s growth.

Electrolytes also help regulate your pig’s nerves and maintain proper levels of hydration. They play a huge role in regulating the balance of alkaline and acids in a pig’s body.

Seeing what a critical role it plays in your pig’s overall health, it’s important to understand how it is used and how to maintain the right balance in your pig’s body.

Why are Electrolytes Important to Piglets?

To truly understand the importance of electrolyte in pigs, it is important to understand the role of water in a pig’s body.

Think about water as a body’s transport system. It delivers nutrients, waste products, gasses and hormones where they are needed. Aside from that, water also helps balance the alkali and acids produced in the metabolic process. It plays a critical role in dissipating heat during digestion and in case of heat stress as well.

Now, these processes will not be completed with water alone. An electric reaction has to take place for these to happen. This is where electrolytes come in.

Water, in itself, already has trace amounts of electrolytes. However, it is not enough. This is why more electrolytes have to be added to water fed to pigs sometimes especially if the pig needs more solutions like sodium bicarbonate, potassium, calcium, and magnesium in its body.

Electrolytes are measured in milliequivalents or mEq, mostly because they are only present in small quantities. This measurement shows whether the electric charge they bring to the system will produce acids or alkali.

There is a need for appropriate dietary electrolyte balance in every pig’s body. Otherwise, the pig is more exposed to risks like dehydration and salt poisoning.

To find out more about why water balance is important in a pig’s body, read this article.

What Key Electrolytes Do Piglets Need?

There are different kinds of electrolytes, but these are the most critical ones that a pig’s body needs:

• Sodium (Na)

Sodium’s main purpose is maintaining the normal balance of fluids in the pig’s body. It also helps the pig have healthy muscle and nerve functions.

• Potassium (K)

Potassium also helps maintain proper muscle and nerve functions. In a way, sodium and potassium work in tandem because potassium counters the effects of sodium so that a balance can be obtained.

• Chloride (Cl)

Chloride is a negative ion that helps maintain proper balance in the fluids both inside and outside of the pig’s cells. This helps in keeping blood volume and blood pressure in healthy levels as well.

• Bicarbonate (HCO3)

Bicarbonate, just like chloride, is also a negative ion. It also helps maintain the balance between acids and bases between the pig’s body. Along with the other electrolytes, it helps balance electrical neutrality in and around the cells.

When to Add Electrolytes to Your Pig’s Water

Electrolytes are needed when you see any sign of imbalance in your pig”s electrolyte levels.

Heat stress is one of the most evident symptoms of a lack of electrolytes in a pig’s body. You’ll notice your pig panting and breathing with an open mouth, which is a basic impulse to cool the body down.

When water from the body evaporates (usually because of heat), the body also starts to lose carbon dioxide and bicarbonate. When this continues to happen, the balance between acid and alkali is seriously disturbed.

Because of all these changes, not only will the pig’s nerves and muscles be affected, but all other bodily processes as well.

How to Maintain Healthy Electrolyte Levels

We now know that it is critical to maintain the balance in the pig’s electrolyte levels. To make sure this is done, here are a few tips you should follow:

• Follow the recommended water intake based on your pig’s age and size.

Hydration is often the key in a lot of conditions your pig may go through. Notice the close relationship between water and electrolytes? That alone should tell you how critical this is.

How much water does your pig need? This chart should tell you:

Make sure your pig has access to clean drinking water at all times, and not just after eating or after playtime. This is especially important for young piglets and growing pigs because majority of their body weight is just water.

• Watch out for visible signs of electrolyte imbalance.

Pigs will always display visible signs that show you whenever there is something wrong with its body. This is why it’s important to be highly observant of your pig’s behavior.

This becomes even more important if your pig has recently become more active, or if the weather has become hotter. These are the usual cases where the risk of electrolyte imbalance is higher.

It was mentioned earlier that your pig would appear like it’s out of breath, so watch out for this. Some pigs would also display jerky movements, or would be completely immobile. These are signs that the electrolyte imbalance is starting to affect their nerve and muscle functions.

• Maintain your pig’s optimal body temperature.

Your pig’s body temperature also plays a role in electrolyte balance. Take note of the optimal body temperature for different-sized pigs:

Remember that the hotter it is, the faster your pig loses water in its body and the more it will also require additional electrolytes. So make sure your pig’s body temp does not go beyond these limits.

• Vaccinate against diseases that lead to dehydration.

When your pig gets sick, there is always a risk of dehydration. And when your pig is dehydrated, there is a risk of an imbalance in your pig’s electrolyte levels, especially if it’s a condition that causes your pig to either vomit or suffer from diarrhea.

Make sure you get all the vaccinations required for your pig so that its immune system will be prepared for possible threats. Maintain a clean environment for your pig too, as the qualilty of your pig’s surroundings can also dictate your pig’s health.

• Have your vet check your pig’s electrolyte levels.

Make sure you schedule regular visits to the vet. Your vet will be able to monitor your pig’s overall health and will tell you if your pig requires additional electrolytes in its body.

Your vet will also advise you to add other supplements to your pig’s diet on occasion. You see, even if you feel like you’re giving your pigs all the basic nutrients they need, there may still be instances when they’re not getting enough of something. A vet would be the best person to ask about that.

Related Questions

What temperature should piglets be kept at?

A pig’s body temperature should ideally be between 38.5°C to 39°C or 101.5°F to 102.5°F. When a pig’s body temperature goes lower than this, they become at risk of hypothermia. Anything higher than that range and the pig could go through heat stress. Either way, the pig becomes at risk of dying, which makes it important to create an environment for your pig that allows it to maintain this recommended body temperature.

What would cause a pig to die suddenly?

Gut conditions and respiratory conditions have been known to cause sudden death in pigs, especially in young piglets and growing pigs. Some gut conditions that commonly cause sudden death are stomach ulcers, hemorrhagic bowel syndrome, ileitis and twisted gut. As for respiratory issues, actinobacillus suis and actinobacillus pleuropenumonia have been known to cause sudden death as well. Other causes of sudden death include aneurysm, trauma, and electrocution.

What should be done to a piglet after birth?

Ideally, you should make sure that piglets are given warmth the moment they are born. Ideally, the heating is done in the entire farrowing quarters, and not just in the creep area. After this, each piglet should be processed as needed. processing includes teeth clipping, umbilical cord clipping and treating, and tail docking.