Growing pigs - getting the best from them Flashcards
What are the aims of the finishing period?
- Maximise growth
- Maximise efficiency
What is assesed?
- Carcass weight
- Grading
- Condemnations
- Growth rates
- Feed consumption
What makes a pig fit to travel?
- Pigs must be able to load and unload themselves
- Pigs must be able to support their weight on all four legs
- Pigs must have no open wounds
Specific groups not to travel
- piglets <3wks
- sows <1wk farrowed
- sows > 100d in pig
What are typical clinical signs of Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex?
Coughing
sneezing
Dyspnoea
Cyanosis
Pyrexia
What are Porcine Respiratory Disease Complex?
- Enzootic pneumonia
- PCV2
- Glassers
- PAsteurella multocida
- PRRSV
- APP
- Swine influenza
What is enzootic pneumonia?
- Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae
- 6-8wks incubation
- interstitial pneumonia + bronchiolar cuffing + mucocilliary escalator damage
- Secondary infections
- decreased growth
- Tx = antibiotics
What is the main effect of the European subtype 1 of porcine reproductive + respiratory syndrome virus?
- Reproductive
- Immunosuppression = secondary infections
What is Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae? APP
- Once in a herd = persistent
- Can be chronic
- Acute = pigs suddenly dead
- cough, pyrexic + lethargy, bloody nares
What is Tx of APP?
- Often too late in an outbreak
- Penicillins
What is swine dysentery?
- Brachyspira hyodysenteriae
- Ulcerative colitis / typhylocolitis
- Slow growth, poor feed efficiency + Death
- Characteristic smell, mucohaemorrhagic scour, lethargy
What are Ddx for swine dysentery?
- Lawsonia - porcine haemorrhagic enteritis
- Severe colitis
- Ulceration
- Trichuris
- CSF / ASF
How is swine dysentery treated?
- Ab resitiance
- Hygiene
= elimination
What is spirochaetal colitis?
- Brachyspira pilosicoli
- mild colitis = commensal
- mixed infection with lawsonia / salmonella
= grey faeces - Tx = nutrition
What is porcine haemorrhagic enteropathy?
- Lawsonia intracellularis
- Thickened distal ileum = malabsorption of intestinal content
- Food coloured scour
- Poor growth
- rotten blood smell
- Sudden death
What is treatment of PHE?
- Macrolides - tylosin
- Vaccination
What can ascaris suum cause? Tx?
- Not usually a problem clinically
- Can cause respiratory issues as part of PRDC
- Milk spot liver on slaughter
- Decreased growth rates
- Tx = benzimidazoles + avermectins
How is whipworm treated?
- Trichuris suis
- Repeated worming at high doses
- Hygiene
What is seen with gastric ulceration?
- Common in fast growing pigs
- Melaena
- Sudden death
- Pale carcass
- Clotted blood in GIT
- Ulcers
What is seen with gastro-intestinal volvulus?
- Very quick progression to death
- Swollen carcass
- pale
What is seen with erysipelas? Tx? Px?
- Peracute = found dead + septicaemic carcass
- Acute = highly pyerxic, lethargy, raised skin lesions (diamond)
- Chronic = endocarditis, very stiff lameness
- Tx = penicillin
- Px = vaccination - 6 weeks post weaning
What are common lameness issues?
- Trauma - fractures, dislocations, joint damage, OCD
- Infections
- Mycoplasma hyosynoviae - Tx = lincomycin
What are vice problems?
- Biting of - tail, flank, ears, vulva, anus
- Frustration, stress, overstocking, draughts, disease
- Usually need to euthanise
