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.
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Veterinary Use (CVMP) has recommended to approve FLEXcombo®, the combined use of the veterinary medicinal products Ingelvac CircoFLEX® and Ingelvac MycoFLEX®, in the European Union.
1. Colostrum phase
On average sows produce about 5 litres of colostum, where every piglet needs 250 ml each
Colostrum is released within 15 hours of the birth-process starting
The correct day of farrowing (often d117-d118) is critical when dealing with hyperprolific sows. Farrowings that progress smoothly and take place in a quiet environment, where the sow releases large amounts of colostrum and can suckle her piglets without interruption should be seen as the” ideal” and the objective for every farrowing. Special care to create this environment for first parity sows which may be particularly fearful will benefit them particularly.
Get the latest news on Swine Health Subscribe to our newsletter