Husbandry and management practices in farrowing units I. Farrowing

Presentation of the book In our exciting and intense daily work on pig farms, we find that most of the time, the very extensive and wide knowledge available on livestock operation management is not applied or is very much ahead of what we can see in our daily reality. Furthermore, it is difficult to transmit all this information to farmers in a clear and simple way. This is the main reason why we decided to write a book on farrowing management that, with summarised contents but including all the areas related to this topic, would help farmers to acquire the necessary knowledge and be useful to all the professionals involved in the pig industry.

This book is aimed at a very heterogeneous audience, from veterinary professionals to students, and it can also be useful to those team supervisors and personnel specialised in managing and working in farrowing units. And of course, to all the veterinary or animal production professionals who would like to know the latest farrowing unit management techniques on pig farms in a fast and direct manner.

We believe such a book was necessary, in order to gather all the knowledge available on farrowing and the new ways of working on and managing modern sow farms. A book with both rigorous and scientific grounds, but at the same time pleasant to read, which is why we decided to use numerous pictures, tables and summaries.

Furthermore, we, the authors, are veterinary surgeons specialised in the pig industry and are very involved in the daily work on sow farms. By experience, we know that the way knowledge is transmitted is very important, and that is why we have chosen to avoid being overly academic, by using an accessible, clear and simple language so as to make this book easy to read.

We hope to have achieved everything we aimed for.

Emilio Magall贸n Botaya