Pig Keeping

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Pig Keeping

• Sarah Hughes
• Scarsdale Veterinary Group

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Overview

• Legal requirements.
• Choosing pigs breeds, what to look for, disease
  accreditation, breeders associations etc.
• Housing, fencing and handling.
• Feeding.
• Breeding farrowing and piglet care.

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Overview cont..

• Weaning and fattening.
• Routine treatments vaccinations and worming.
• Common diseases.
• Useful links.
• Questions.

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Legal requirements

• Farm animals subject to same disease controls
  and regulations.
• Notifiable diseases.
• Require CPH number.
• Movement licences (even if taking for a walk).
• Standstill (20 days pigs / 6 days sheep, cattle
  and goats).
• Once on your holding your pigs must be registered
  with your local animal health office.

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Records

• Movement records
• Name and address of person keeping record
• Date of movement
• ID number
• Number of pigs moved
• Address of starting and finishing holdings.

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Choosing your pigs

• Many small scale enterprises have rare breeds
  need to be preserved.
• What do you want to do with your animals?
• Where you want to keep them?
• Registered / not?
• Disease status.
• Adverts in smallholding / farmers press, rare
  breeds survival trust and breeders associations.

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Tamworth

• Large pig and slow to mature.
• Very hardy, resistant to sunburn and good
  mothers.
• Produce lean pork and bacon.
• Often run outside / kept in woodland.

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Gloucester old spot

• Large, hardy and good natured.
• Slow maturing but good for pork and bacon more
  fat than commercial breeds.
• Traditionally kept in orchards.

ansi.okstate.edu
9
British saddleback

• Very hardy and docile.
• Good mothers and prolific.

saddlebacks.org.uk
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Oxford Sandy and Black

• Truly dual purpose excellent pork, bacon and
  ham.
• Very hardy, prolific, good mothers and docile.
• Economical breed forages.

oxfordsandypigs.co.uk
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Middle white

• Good natured and medium sized.
• Quick maturing (small porkers in 16w) but too
  fat for bacon.
• Short nosed designed for grazing can get a
  fair amount of dietary requirement from grass.

fwi.co.uk
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Large White

• Prolific and hardy typically a bacon breed but
  can get pork too.
• Used a lot commercially.

fwi.co.uk
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Duroc

• Commercial breed.
• Hardy, docile and prolific.

thepigsite.com
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Kunekune

• Means fat and round.
• Good natured often kept as pets rather than for
  meat.

exmoorfalconry.co.uk
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What to look for
Shiny coat with no redness / flakiness
Ears clean and warm
Long straight back
Curly tail, not wet / dirty
Bright eyed and alert
Nose moist and cold but not runny
Broad hams
Well fleshed hocks
Feet strong and level With no signs of limping
12-14 sound, evenly spaced teats
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Housing

• Pigs require shelter and space to exercise -
  1.3m2 lying space /pig.
• Housing should be draught free but well
  ventilated. False roof if high-roofed.
• Adequate and uniform temperature (insulation).
• Suitable flooring combed concrete / insulated.
• 35cm trough space / pig.

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Ark / stable / sty
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Fencing

• Pigs are great diggers and jumpers.
• Sturdy fencing that is well dug in is essential.
• 6 sows / acre.
• Provide a shallow wallow.

littlegreenfootballs2.com
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Moving and handling

• Weaners small box bedded with straw / paper.
• Larger pigs in a trailer must be cleaned out
  within 24 hours.
• Move early morning / late evening in summer.
• If you already have pigs quarantine new ones for
  3 weeks.
• 20 day standstill.

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Pig boards
raisingmaine.mainetoday.com
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Feeding

• First case of FMD in 2001 from farm feeding
  unprocessed waste food to pigs.
• Illegal to feed waste food / kitchen scraps
  (unless they meet certain criteria).
• Compound feeds often most convenient.
• Must have access to water at all times,
  especially in summer 4l / day (increases when
  lactating).
• Obesity a common problem pressure sores, skin
  fold infections, entropian, arthritis.

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Body condition scoring pigs
thepigsite.com
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Breeding

• Puberty reached at 210d / 120Kg.
• Cycle every 21 days.
• Gestation 112 116d (3months, 3 weeks and 3
  days).
• Lactation 4 weeks.
• Commercially will cull after parity 6 (3.5y) as
  litter sizes decrease.

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The boar

• May be in a pen / running with sows.
• If in pen should be where he can see and hear
  other pigs.
• If running with sows need careful observation for
  accurate service dates.
• AI increasingly used less risk of disease
  spread than hiring boars.

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The sow

• When hogging will have red swollen vulva with
  possibly some mucus discharge.
• May show changes in behaviour shun food / be
  more vocal.
• Stress e.g. travelling to a boar may turn a sow
  off hogging.
• While in pig keep sow at constant weight, should
  only need to increase ration in last three weeks.

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Farrowing

• 2-3 day before farrowing will start to nest, may
  let some milk down.
• As she gets closer to farrowing she may become
  restless and vulva may become pink.
• If farrowing in winter piglets may benefit from a
  heat lamp.
• When farrowing has started monitor at 30 minute
  intervals.

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The three stages of farrowing

• Stage 1
• Sow may show signs of discomfort.
• Uterine contractions and cervical dilation.
• Can last for anything between 2 and 12 hours. If
  it continues for longer veterinary advice should
  be sought.

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The three stages of farrowing

• Stage 2
• Abdominal contractions and expulsion of piglets.
• Should not last for more than 4 hours. If there
  is a gap of more than 30 minutes between piglets
  then the sow should be examined.

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The three stages of farrowing

• Stage 3
• This stage involves the expulsion of placenta
  (afterbirth) and should occur within 4 hours of
  stage 2.

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Farrowing problems

• Primary uterine inertia
• Secondary uterine inertia
• Uterine prolapse
• Vaginal prolapse
• Hypocalcaemia
• Haemorrhage
• Mastitis

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Primary uterine inertia

• Early cessation / failure to start farrowing.
• Nesting signs and milk may be present, cervix is
  dilated but there is no straining and no
  obstruction (sometimes hard to be sure).
• May be due to lack of uterine contractility or
  aiding gilts.
• Treatment assist / oxytocin /- antibiotics and
  antiinflammatories if toxaemia / infection.

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Secondary uterine inertia

• Sow straining but making no progress. Especially
  in older sows / hot weather.
• Usually due to obstruction (malpresentation / two
  foetuses coming together / distended bladder /
  vaginal prolapse).
• Treatment involves removing obstruction. Once
  obstruction has been removed oxytocin can be
  given.

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Uterine prolapse

• Seen post farrowing.
• Sow often in shock.
• Can clean and replace but subsequent reproductive
  performance questionable.
• If there is damage to the uterus prognosis is
  hopeless.

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Uterine prolapse
sheep101.info
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Vaginal prolapse

• Seen pre-farrowing.
• Treatment involves replacement and suturing
  must be removed at farrowing.

sheep101.info
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Hypocalcaemia

• Sow may be found recumbent, comatosed or dead
  (/- convulsions).
• May also see stillbirths, retained placenta or
  uterine inertia.
• Treatment involves giving calcium. May be
  prevented by increasing calcium in feed.

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Mastitis

• Udder will be hot, red and painful.
• Give antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
• Do not take piglets off as sow needs to keep
  milking.

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Piglet care

• Much of piglet mortality due to lack of nutrients
  or hypothermia, have very little fat reserves.
• If outside will not need iron injection, if
  inside would benefit from one.

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Piglet care cont

• Allow sow to suckle piglets undisturbed will
  drink every 20 min for first 48 hours. Provide
  water for sow immediately and food 6-8 hours
  later.
• Increase sows food gradually over next few days
  should have max ration when piglets are 2-3 weeks
  old.

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Weaning

• Wean at 8 weeks (5 weeks if gilt loosing weight).
• May pick up the sows nuts from 3 weeks.
• Take sow and piglets to where you want weaners to
  be. After couple of days remove sow take her
  where she cannot see or hear piglets.
• Feed weaners twice a day but not too much as they
  may scour.

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Fattening

• Commercial breeds reach slaughter weight in 18w
  traditional breeds may need a few weeks longer.
• Traditional breeds tend to produce more fat than
  commercial breeds this will increase with age.

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The normal pig

• Temp 39oC
• HR 90-110 bpm
• BR 15-20 min

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Routine treatment

• Worming every 4-6m dung samples.
• Vaccinations erysipelis / parvo / E.coli.
• Iron injections if kept indoors.
• Castration at around 7 days.

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Common diseases

• Skin
• Sun burn / heat stress
• Lameness
• Respiratory diseases
• Scours

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Skin

• Mange
• Caused by a mite see hair loss, itchiness and
  skin thickening.
• Treatment is Dectomax.

cvm.ncsu.edu
46
Skin cont

• Erysipelis
• Red / purple diamond shaped lesions, fever and
  increased respiratory rate.
• In hyperacute cases may be found dead. In chronic
  cases may see sloughing of skin / extremities
  e.g. ears, osteoarthritis or endocarditis leading
  to heart failure.
• Vaccination.

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Erysipelis
thepigsite.com
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Sunburn / heat stress

• Sunburn mainly piglets redness and
  blistering. Move to shade, cold cloths
• Heat stress must have a wallow and shade. Pig
  will be down, panting, unable to rise and become
  unconscious. Cold water, ice cubes behind ears.
  Can take several hours. Monitor temperature.

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Lameness

• Foot and Mouth Disease notifiable. See loss of
  appetite, high temperature, lameness,
  hypersalivation and blisters between claws.
• Abrasions on piglets joints can lead to
  osteoarthritis.
• Erysipelis.

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FMD

• thepigsite.com

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Respiratory diseases

• Many viral and bacterial causes.
• Lungworm.
• Keep in well ventilated but not drafty pen and
  separate affected animals if possible.
• Swine fever notifiable see loss of appetite,
  thirst, shivering and possibly vomiting.

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Scours

• Piglets should be treated quickly with
  antibiotics as nutritional scours can rapidly
  turn into bacterial scours.
• Good hygiene essential, clean out daily.

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References

• Starting with pigs Andy Case
• A Handbook of pig diseases John R. Walton
• www.defra.gov.uk
• www.britishpigs.org.uk
• www.tamworthbreedersclub.co.uk
• www.oldspots.org.uk
• www.saddlebacks.org.uk
• www.oxfordsandypigs.co.uk
• www.middlewhite.co.uk
• www.britishkunekunesociety.org.uk

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Questions?