Pet pigs and their peculiarities Flashcards
What causes the majority of issues in pet pigs?
Management
- Owner knowledge and on site handling create the biggest problems to be faced when attending a pet pig or smallholding
Name 6 full size pigs breeds - try and describe a characteristic of each
- Large White (‘pricky ear’ appearance)
- Landrace (long animals with floppy ears)
- Duroc (dark brown/ginger hair)
- Pietrain (patchy spots of blue/black skin)
- Saddleback (not on commercial farms, white strip on front limbs and around neck, floppy ears)
- Hampshire (white strip on front limbs and around neck, pricky ears)
Name 6 medium size pigs breeds - try and describe a characteristic of each
- Tamworth (ginger haired pig, large belly, pointy ears)
- Berkshire (white blazes on feet, nose and tail, black hair, pointy ears)
- Middle White (hard to snare due to snout conformation)
- Welsh (not commercial, similar to a landrace but not as long)
- Gloucester Old Spot (black spots over pinky skin, floppy ears – so long they reach the snout)
- British Lop (floppy ears, pendulous belly, white hair, pink skin)
Name 2 small sized pig breeds
Kune-Kune
Vietnamese Pot Bellied
Which pig breed has to be castrated if they aren’t used as a sire? why?
Kune-Kune - predisposition for scrotal hernias
Describe the 3 main legalities small holders need to abide by
- Site needs to be registered with Defra as a farm - CPHH number
- All movements need to be registered
- Walking licences
Describe the legalities surrounding movement licenses on small holders
Specific route detailed by DVM
- Has to be agreed before the ‘walk’ occurs
- Is only for one route – very specific and can’t be deviated from
- Requires collar & lead – training
What is illegal on all pig rearing premises that is admitted by 24% of owners?
Feeding kitchen scraps
- Can be home grown or bought directly from a source but cannot have passed through a kitchen
What are the main risks of small holdings to the pig industry?
- Small holdings and pet pigs represent a major risk for disease entry and spread
- Lack of understanding of biosecurity (and the law) pushes this risk very high
- Lack of any method of restraint makes proper clinical examination and investigation nigh on impossible
Describe the behavioural considerations for pigs
- Pigs can be very strong and will fight back if cornered
- Can be aggressive to both humans and other pigs – often seen when mixed and sorting out ‘top dog’
- Sows protect their piglets and arcs – they can move quickly
- Very destructive and will push through anything if they want to – any hole or electric fence
- Biting is a form of inquisitive behaviour, although it doesn’t feel like that!
Describe the key points of handling pigs
- If a pig wants to go somewhere, it can be difficult to stop!
- Don’t get in the way of a moving pig…built to go through things
- No areas to grip a pig – tails and ears are NOT appropriate
- When restrained, they will scream – warn the owner
- Smaller pigs can be picked up, rolled or lifted with hind legs on the ground
- Use any equipment that is to hand gates, pig board, fences
Describe the gold standard of pig handling
Snitch/snare - make sure it is behind the canine teeth on upper jaw only
Describe the differences of a clinical exam for a pig
- Very fatty so palpation can be a challenge
- Huge surface area, often with skin folds
- Auscultation is often not possible – if they squeal it can affect hearing so don’t do
- Rectal temperature can be variable - 39.5°C usually taken as top of normal …but can be above this…
- Samples can be collected while restrained
What % of their BW should pigs eat daily?
1%
Describe the key considerations of feeding pigs
- Pigs are omnivores and will eat pretty much anything - they practice cannibalism in the wild
- Often fed on unbalanced diets, more through ignorance – this can lead to vitamin deficiencies
- Kitchen scraps can form a major part of their diet - ILLEGAL and huge risk to the industry
- Will destroy their paddock, graze grass and dig up roots to supplement their diet
Describe the water provision that pet pigs need
Will need around 10% of their bodyweight daily
Needs to be provided in a robust way – they will uproot troughs to spill the water if they can
Why do pigs wallow in mud
Unable to sweat
Cover themselves in mud to protect themselves – excessive heat will be removed by urination, increasing water requirements further
Describe obesity in pet pigs
Very common in pet pigs, leading to a multitude of other problems
Should be made to work for their food, and able to be mobile and run
List some consequences of obesity in pigs
Arthritis, inactivity, joint issues, foot problems, dermatitis, eye issues
What are the causes of consequences of emaciation in pigs?
- Can start with just a failure to eat: pyrexia, too hot, rubbish food, no water
- Can progress further and indicate a bigger problem: wrong food, heavy parasite burden
- Leads to weakness and infections – can become a welfare problem
Describe the housing/environment of many pet pigs
- Often kept in small areas, but also insecure
- Shack / hut often only form of shelter – draughts and chilling are frequent
- Usually kept without any hard standing – just mud and straw
- Straw quality can be poor (not just with pet pigs!)
List some zoonotic infections of pigs
- Brucellosis
- Campylobacter
- Taenia solium
- Hepatitis E
- Leptospirosis
- Ringworm
- Salmonella
- Swine influenza
- Toxoplasmosis
Describe enteric diseases in pet pigs
- Scour is not as common since infection burden is low, but still needs to be worked up
- Nutritional can be more common due to unusual diets and variation in it
- Twisted guts can result from abrupt changes to food and water
- Ulcers from low level stress can be common: intermittent feeding and large numbers of stones will not help
Respiratory issues in pet pigs are most commonly due to?
Ascarid worm burdens affecting lung function from migrating larvae (L3)
