Pigs 4- Weaning to Finish Flashcards
What happens at weaning?
- Take piglets off sow and size batch into weaner housing
- Weaning age 28 days unless weaned into
appropriate housing then 21 days - May batch by size, sex or both
- Group sows together at weaning
Targets for weaning ?
◦ 5% mortality post weaning to finish
◦ >700g per day growth rate
◦ 12mm P2
Vaccinations at weaning ? most common?
◦ Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae - EP
◦ Porcine circovirus - PCV-2
What other vaccinations can be given ?
◦ Glasserella parasuis - Glassers Disease
◦ Strep. suis
◦ PRRS
◦ (Erysipelas)
What oral vaccines?
- Ileitis
- Salmonella
- E.coli
Describe Weaned pig?
- Keep warm, dry, good airflow
- Good weaning weights
- Good feed intake & easy access to water
-> one drinking point per 30 pigs if ad lib food
Weaner bungalow?
- Insulated lid pulls back over dunging area to give access
- Feed just inside lid
- Subdivide pen in cold weather or low numbers weaned
- Need dunging area equal to lying area
otherwise risk of pigs ‘reverse mucking’ and
going dirty
Describe growth after weaning
Feed efficiency declines with age
Lost lean growth at this stage will not be
regained later
Capacity for lean growth declines with age
◦ “middle aged spread”
Massive growth can lead to physiological stress
Small weaners?
- Produce less heat - need higher temps
- Eat less food - need better diets
- Prone to dx
T/F develoment of unevenness post weaning is probably the most expensive
True
Why might we get development of unevenness?
- Over Crowding
- Poor hygiene
- Cold
- Incorrect ration
- Poor ventilation
- Not enough feed space (or not being refilled frequently)
-Disease
What diseases do we see at this stage?
- Enteric disorders
- Mulberry heart
- Respiratory distress
- Meningitis
- Skin disorders, erysipelas
- Lameness
- Vice
- Management factors
How do we identifying a sick pig?
Social interactions
Eating / drinking
Scour
Skin colour / wounds
Respiration rate
Stomach fill
Lameness
Warmth seeking
Behaviour
Posture
Perineal soiling
Swollen joints / navel
How to monitor?
Look and listen and smell, i.e. a basic clinical appraisal.
◦ Look – at uneven sizes, lameness, skin disorders
◦ Listen – for coughing, sneezing, squealing
◦ Smell - poor ventilation, pens not been washed, waste food, scouring
Also: PM, Serology, abattoir monitoring, env monitoring
PME?
METHOD IS KEY
Useful, may be diagnostic
May indicate further investigation needed
NEED TO KNOW WHAT NORMAL LOOKS LIKE
FIRST
Be aware of the possibility for concurrent
infections and multisystemic syndromes
What serology is currently monitored?
PRRS
EP
Ileitis
Swine Influenza (paired samples)
Describe blood sampling in pigs?
DO NOT take blood from the ear…..
Jugular vein is much better
HOW TO blood sample?
Hold pig with snout wire
◦ Head well up
◦ Body in straight line
Needle into jugular furrow
◦ one third distance sternum to chin
◦ perpendicular to skin
◦ aspirate
Can also take blood swabs for some tests
Puncture the edge of an ear vein with a 20g
needle
Soak a rayon swab in the blood
(soak in 1-2ml PBS)
What gets monitored & recorded in abattoir ?
Pneumonia
Pleurisy
Pericarditis
Peritonitis
Milk spot
Skin rash (mange)
What enteric disorders post weaning?
Ileitis
E.coli (Bowel Oedema)
PCV2-AD
PED
Salmonella
Colitis
PMWS
Swine dysentery / Brachyspira spp
Describe post weaning D+
Typically 7-10 days post weaning
**E.Coli **
Salmonella
PCV2
Describe E.Coli as cause fo post weaning D+ ?
◦ Good piglets growing well
◦ Squeaky squeal, puffy eyes
◦ Sudden deaths
what should you do in cases fo post weaning D+
Take swabs from untreated pigs for bacteriology and AM sensitivty
What to do for Post-weaning D+ ?
- Dietary manipulation - reduce fermentation rates where bowel oedema seen
- Maintain even feed intakes - don’t let pigs run out of food then gorge themselves
- MEals vs pellets )> pigs eat meals more slowly
- 2500ppm zinc oxide in ration
- Soil into pen
- Abs
- Vacc if E.coli typed
Describe Mulberry Heart
Sudden deaths
Rapidly growing pigs
Vitamin E deficiency
Enlarged heart with excess pericardial fluid
Enlarged liver
Fibrin tags in abdomen
Increase vitamin E levels in feed
Describe PMWS
Porcine circovirus type 2 – first seen in
1999 in UK
Massive losses initially, up to 30% post
weaning mortality
Typically occurs 3-4 weeks after weaning
Pigs weaned in good condition start to lose
weight, then yellow scour, then death
No useful treatment – nursing /
symptomatic care
What typical PM signs of PMWS?
Massive haemorrhage and oedema of mesenteric + inguinal
lymph nodes
Yellow scour in colon
Enlarged spleen + liver
Lung congestion (hence sometimes increased coughing)
‘turkey egg’ kidney – enlarged and mottled – (ASF)
PMWS kidneys?
probably best PM sign
Not all pigs show all PM signs, so need to PM
several
Can get sudden deaths in older pigs in good
condition, eg 50kg plus, from PMWS, with only kidney lesions
What is PDNS?
Porcine Dermatitis and Nephropathy Syndrome
Describe PDNS
Massive dark black skin lesions*,
especially over scrotal area
Most affected pigs die
Ear tips may drop off
*ASF
PMWS & PDNS Control?
Now endemic - most herds are infected
PCV2 vaccination of piglet
◦ most common
◦ Circoflex (most successful vaccine ever!)
Vaccination of sows possible, although most vaccinate weaners
Vaccination of breeding gilts
