Breeding poultry or animals is not an easy task. Breeding piglets is a hassle job. Especially when it comes to disease. One of the most unpleasant and dangerous diseases is swelling in piglets. If assistance is not provided in a timely manner, most of the herd may die. In order to prevent this from happening, you should know some of the nuances and carefully monitor the behavior of domestic pigs.
Piglet swelling symptoms
Edema of piglets appears due to non-observance of the feeding regime of small pigs and the vitamin composition of food. The disease provokes a lack of calcium in the diet of piglets. It happens that the disease comes from a lack of fluid in the body. Since food enters the pig's stomach every day, it begins to press through the walls of the digestive tract on the organs that are closest. This provokes the production of histamine, which, when interacting with bacteria living in every living organism, causes swelling.
The disease is characterized by a very rapid development. The incubation period takes a maximum of 10 hours.
The most striking symptoms of the disease are:
- Piglet cramps;
- The animal begins to choke;
- Foam appears at the corners of the mouth;
- Severe intoxication;
- Malfunction of the central nervous system, etc.
Piglet swelling symptoms
The causative agents of the disease are toxins, which, when interacting with intestinal bacteria (salmonella), cause swelling of all organs in a pig. Edema in piglets can develop in two forms: typical and atypical.
A typical illness goes away with the following symptomatic changes in the body:
- A sharp rise in temperature, which after a couple of hours returns to normal;
- The excitability of the animal increases. It begins to twitch, there are clear signs of tremor;
- Convulsions appear that are repeated several times in a short period of time;
- Photophobia is noted, due to which the piglet can go blind;
- Depressed state;
- The eyelids swell, swelling of the nose, forehead, nape begins;
- When the pig moves, the head twitches;
- Lack of appetite;
- Lethargy;
- Cramping;
- Deep cough, etc.
If you do not start to treat this ailment in time, the piglets begin to convulse and die. Adults can survive from 3 to 5 days.
Symptoms in the atypical form are less difficult. The atypical course of the disease is characterized by the appearance of a tumor on the ears. There are also ailments in the region of the heart, breathing disorders, diarrhea.
Treatments for swelling in piglets
Swelling in piglets, symptoms and treatment take a short time if the disease was diagnosed in a short time. But what if the pig is blind or the ears are swollen? The reaction should be instant. Otherwise, the risk of death of the whole herd increases significantly.
Edema disease
Treatment of edematous disease in piglets is complex. Sick individuals need to be injected with an antibiotic. It has a suppressive effect on the development of intestinal infection, which is the first cause of swine poisoning by toxins produced by the body. The name of antibiotics can be different, but the active ingredient is sulfanilomide. In the absence of drugs with this active ingredient, edema is treated with cephalosporin.In any case, drugs are only taken as directed by a veterinarian. The therapeutic therapy includes a complex of vitamins. In order to relieve neurological seizures, the mumps is prescribed diphenhydramine or aminaxin.
Due to the fact that the disease is rapid in nature, treatment should be started as soon as its symptoms were noticed. If cutoff symptoms are found in a 4 month old piglet, it should be isolated from the main herd. Moreover, treatment and preventive measures are needed not only for sick animals, but also for healthy ones.
A necessary condition for the treatment of diseased individuals is that they are limited in any kind of diet for 10-12 hours. They need to be drunk with a laxative solution.
In order to reduce food poisoning caused by intoxication, piglets are given magnesium sulfate. It will help relieve swelling from the ear, remove muscle spasm, and reduce head twitching. Course admission is a week. One piglet accounts for 25 to 40 grams. in one go.
Also, when treating piglets, medicinal solutions are used:
- Dissolve 60 grams in a bucket of water. Glauber's salt. This solution is used to cleanse the intestines of the piglet.
- An injection of diphenhydramine is given intramuscularly twice a day, with a dosage of 4 ml.
- With an interval of 12 hours, the piglets are fed with calcium chloride. At the same time, it is recommended to inject calcium gluconate with novocaine.
- Since it is recommended to consume a large amount of clean water in case of edema, the drinking bowl for pigs must be constantly filled.
The pathological anatomy, when opening a piglet with swelling, highlights the following changes:
- Good weight;
- Auricle congestion;
- Accumulation of toxins in the lower abdomen;
- Stagnation of fluid in the area of the patch;
- Swelling of the eyes, larynx, occiput;
- In the chest there is an increased fluid content with fibrin elements;
- In the lungs there is mucus with blood impurities;
- In the body, in general, there are individual punctate bruises.
Disease prevention
With swelling in piglets, most of the sick die. Immunity to the disease is not developed, so it is necessary to prevent the disease. Since the disease, in most cases, occurs due to improper nutrition, it is necessary to strictly monitor the vitamin composition of food. Dry and wet food must be kept in strict proportions. Probiotics and mineral supplements can be added to food. Piglets should be fed with milk, with the addition of acetophilic paste.
Small piglets should not be abruptly weaned from their mother. Complementary foods should be introduced gradually. For two weeks the sow's milk is supplemented with complementary foods. Also, babies can be removed from their mother for short periods of time during the week. When they get used to the new conditions of detention, you can completely excommunicate them.
Small piglets should not be abruptly weaned from their mother
What to do with the absent piglets? They are placed in separate cages where they are reared. During an epidemic of edema, the herd should be transferred to a strict diet. It is recommended to add medications to feed, such as: biomycin, furazolidone, sulfadimizin, copper sulfate, tilan. This complex of medicines has proven itself well in the diet of young animals. The course of admission is a week.
During quarantine, you need to monitor the body temperature of the piglets. This uses a mercury thermometer. Temperature readings may vary slightly, but sharp jumps should not be allowed.
You can also carry out one-day fasting for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes.
During the course of the disease, the following sanitary and technical standards are observed:
- Keep feeders clean;
- Dishes intended for feeding pigs are treated with boiling water 2-3 times a day;
- The feeders are thoroughly dried;
- Pigs are cleaned once a day;
- It is necessary to remove waste from the cells once a day.
For preventive purposes, it is customary in pig breeding to regularly disinfect the premises for keeping pigs.
Novice farmers should consult with veterinarians at the initial detection of symptoms. If there is a relapse, you can take therapeutic measures yourself, with those drugs that were used the previous time.
