Pigs Flashcards
Compare indoor and outdoor housing
- Indoor→ pigs have less freedom, farrowing crates.
- Outdoor→ it accounts for 40% of the UK industry. Stricter control of legislation. Feature breeding pigs on free-draining, arable fields for one year or two. Housed using arcs and electric fences.
Describe good biosecurity measures
- Wash hands between different animals
- Clean equipment
- Wash any contaminated clothing or boots
- Make sure vehicles coming on to or leaving property are clean
- Do not feed waste scraps
- Swill (waste food) must not be fed to pigs because it can carry diseases such as Foot and Mouth. The 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak was traced to the feeding of swill.
- Report any diseases immediately
- Obtain replacements from reputable sources and quarantine for a certain period of time (6-8 wks recommended, but 4 ok)
Describe preventative treatment and routine procedures
Vaccination, worming.
Iron injections- prevent anaemia, injection better absorption. Outdoor pigs normally get enough iron from the soil so don’t need.
Docking- 24 hrs after birth, reducing tail biting. Legally should not be done on routine basis. Need to prove you have a tail biting issue and they your tried to improve environmental enrichment. Outdoor systems should have less risk of tail biting-no need to tail dock.
Castration- 4-14 days. Too young? Scrotal hernias. Too old? Will bleed more, not as protected by MDAs. Male hormones changes taste of meat ‘boar taint, and to reduce aggression and make it easier to handle. But if you slaughtered them before they reach sexual maturity, do they need castrated?? Hobby farmers may keep them later and grow them longer, no pressure for quick growth and finishing- may need castrated.
Age at first breeding
Gilt should reach sexual maturity at around 5/6months. Bred at 7 months.
First time owners may not be best idea to get a boar because they can be very aggressive. Need to get used to handling sows before they get a boar. Would recommend AI for breeding. Could borrow a boar but biosecurity risk.
Euthanasia protocol?
external trauma
captive bolt
Legal requirements for feeding
• Feeding. Cannot feed swill or leftovers. . Swill (waste food) must not be fed to pigs because it can carry diseases such as Foot and Mouth. The 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak was traced to the feeding of swill.
Legal requirements for moving
All movements must be registered and recorded.
The keeper of a pig must make and maintain a record, showing the following details:
o date of movement
o identification mark (including individual number if applicable), slapmark or temporary mark (if applicable)
o number of pigs
o the holding the pigs have been moved from
o the holding to which the pigs are moved
Describe health and safety in handling
- Clear area of anything that could cause injury. Non slip floors better
- No busy or anything distracting
- Can press between a smooth wall and pig board, if calm enough
- May need to use a snare
What are advantages or keeping pigs indoor?
- Unit with night time inspection in farrowing houses, saw an increase in piglets per sow per year(23-26).
- Control feed intake
- Lower feed costs
What are disadvantages of keeping pigs indoor
- Welfare issue
- Less free lifestyle
- Increase disease as less ventilation.
- More staff supervision.
- size of barn must match size of group—building costs.
- Buildings must be emptied after groups for cleaning, so impractical/reduced use of building.
- Usually uniformity between pigs however no opportunity to hold back pigs gaining or not gaining weight quickly enough.
- Unnatural flooring can cause lameness
- More chance of stereotypies eg tail biting. Not as much enrichment.
What are the advantages of keeping pigs outdoor?
- Increased profit from pigs→ on 800 sow outdoor unit, a 1% reduction in mortality = £8,800.
- Less intensive management
- Can express more natural behaviours, more space less aggression.
- Set up cost cheaper.
What are the disadvantages of keeping pigs outdoor?
- No farrowing crates→ so a lot more piglet mortalities.
- Potentially greater risk of contracting disease, (risk of wildlife borne disease: eg; salmonella)
- Reduced productivity
- Extreme weather
- Vermin control. Transfer of disease from wildlife.
- Health status of herd
- can’t monitor pigs as easily, cant watch piglets-> potentially more death
- more chance of escaping, need good fencing.
What are the key husbandry measures of managing pigs outdoor?
- Adequate water for wallowing
- Shade
- Shelter from cold (arcs)
- Straw bedding for warmth especially for piglets, prone to hypothermia.
- Enough arcs for pigs, to reduce conflict.
- Need to keep water and feeders clean.
- Fly control. Mucking out and clearing away food waste.
- Sunburn management.
- Could rotate grazing, good for pigs ‘new environment’ and allows land to rest. Disease won’t build up as much.
- When bringing pigs onto the farm, what legislatory measures should be upheld?
- County parish holding number→ 9 digit number, first 2 digit=county, next 3 digits=parish, last 4 digits=unique to keeper.
- Movement under general license→ requires movement documents.
- Individual movement license for moving from market→ issued by the market.
- Once pigs at holding→ day holding standstill- biosecurity.
- Movement to another holding→ 20 day standstill for any other pigs. 6 day standstill for any cattle, sheep or goats on holding.
- Register with defra→ when pigs are on your holding.
- AHO registration documents→ contain personal details, CPH, herd mark.
- Ear tag→ stamped or printed. Contains UK-herd mark. Those used for slaughter must be metal or slaughter.
- Tattoos→ tattoo of herd mark on ear, don’t need UK.
- Slap marks→ applied on front shoulder. UK not needed.
Erysipelas ?
- Pig with rash, diamond shaped lesion–> Erysipelas
- Caused by bacterium- need full course of antibiotics
- Found in most if not all pig farms
- Carried in tonsils
- Excreted via saliva, faeces and urine
- Can survive outside the pig for weeks
- Disease is uncommon in young piglets due to MDA protection.
- Keep an eye on piglets, wouldn’t necessarily separate piglets from sow but quarantine and isolate them all.
- Most common in growing pigs, non-vaccinated gilts, 4th parity sows.
- Signs include→ mummified piglets, abortion, inappetence, infertility.
- Not zoonotic.
- Can be transmitted by wildlife eg rodent and bird faeces. Outdoor systems more at risk.
