Animal welfare is becoming an extremely important consideration in pig rearing. The safety of vaccines is an important factor in this. Stressful treatments have negative impact on weight gain. Careful observation is essential and can make all the difference:
While the advice below is generally applicable there may be exceptions, particularly for vaccines that are not delivered intramuscularly.
Avoid vaccination during the first 10 days of life*: Energy-intake may be impaired because pigs that are vaccinated need more time before they resume sucking the sow again.
Mycoplasmal infections (i.e. M.hyo) in piglets occurs typically at an age of 6-8 weeks after passive (maternal) immunity wanes.
Early infections with M.hyo are a clear indication of a poor and unstable immunity in the sow herd leading to the production of poor quality colostrum
Injecting, what’s the theory?
Most vaccinations in piglets are administered intramuscularly in the neck, behind the ear.
Systematics in sucking pig management:
Checklist for a good start
1. Number of functional teats checked and recorded
2. A number of pigs, to leave two fewer piglets than the number of functional teats, are fostered out of a litter
Building on the success of previous Swine Expert Forum meetings, again 60 key stakeholders from science, retailers, slaughter houses, producers and the veterinary field from all over the world came together to exchange their knowledge, expertise and experience to tackle a burning issue for everyone involved in swine production. As the global market leader in pig vaccines Boehringer Ingelheim each year is providing a unique platform to foster exchange and share scientific information. In a workshop important trends in global pig production and what these mean for the role of the pig food chain for sustainable food production are being discussed.
A practical example of a bio security-breach: When purchasing gilts a gap in the vaccination-scheme occurred: A batch of gilts was not vaccinated for Circovirus immediately after arrival in the quarantine but was delayed until 2 months later when thew hole herd was vaccinated.
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