Pig Keeping
Sarah Hughes
Scarsdale Veterinary Group
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.
Overview cont…..
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Weaning and fattening.
Routine treatments – vaccinations and
worming.
Common diseases.
Useful links.
Questions.
Legal requirements
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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.
Records
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Movement records
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Name and address of person keeping record
Date of movement
ID number
Number of pigs moved
Address of starting and finishing holdings.
Choosing your pigs
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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.
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.
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
British saddleback
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Very hardy and docile.
Good mothers and prolific.
saddlebacks.org.uk
Oxford Sandy and Black
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Truly dual purpose – excellent pork, bacon and ham.
Very hardy, prolific, good mothers and docile.
Economical breed – forages.
oxfordsandypigs.co.uk
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
Large White
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Prolific and hardy – typically a bacon breed but can get pork
too.
Used a lot commercially.
fwi.co.uk
Duroc
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Commercial breed.
Hardy, docile and prolific.
thepigsite.com
Kunekune
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Means fat and round.
Good natured – often kept as pets rather than for meat.
exmoorfalconry.co.uk
What to look for
Shiny coat with no redness / flakiness
Ears clean and warm
Long straight back
Bright eyed
and alert
Nose moist and
cold but not runny
Feet strong and level
With no signs of
limping
Curly tail,
not wet / dirty
Broad hams
Well fleshed hocks
12-14 sound, evenly spaced teats
Housing
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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.
Ark / stable / sty
Fencing
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Pigs are great diggers and jumpers.
Sturdy fencing that is well dug in is essential.
6 sows / acre.
Provide a shallow wallow.
littlegreenfootballs2.com
Moving and handling
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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.
Pig boards
raisingmaine.mainetoday.com
Feeding
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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.
Body condition scoring pigs
thepigsite.com
Breeding
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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.
The boar
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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.
The sow
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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.
Farrowing
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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.
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.
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.
The three stages of farrowing
Stage 3
 This stage involves the expulsion of placenta
(afterbirth) and should occur within 4 hours of
stage 2.
Farrowing problems
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Primary uterine inertia
Secondary uterine inertia
Uterine prolapse
Vaginal prolapse
Hypocalcaemia
Haemorrhage
Mastitis
Primary uterine inertia
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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.
Secondary uterine inertia
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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.
Uterine prolapse
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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.
Uterine prolapse
sheep101.info
Vaginal prolapse
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Seen pre-farrowing.
Treatment involves replacement and suturing
– must be removed at farrowing.
sheep101.info
Hypocalcaemia
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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.
Mastitis
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Udder will be hot, red and painful.
Give antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
Do not take piglets off as sow needs to keep
milking.
Piglet care
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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.
Piglet care cont…
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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.
Weaning
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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.
Fattening
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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.
The normal pig
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Temp – 39oC
HR – 90-110 bpm
BR – 15-20 min
Routine treatment
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Worming – every 4-6m – dung samples.
Vaccinations – erysipelis / parvo / E.coli.
Iron injections – if kept indoors.
Castration – at around 7 days.
Common diseases
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Skin
Sun burn / heat stress
Lameness
Respiratory diseases
Scours
Skin
Mange
 Caused by a mite – see hair loss, itchiness
and skin thickening.
 Treatment is Dectomax.
cvm.ncsu.edu
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.
Erysipelis
thepigsite.com
Sunburn / heat stress
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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.
Lameness
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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.
FMD
thepigsite.com
Respiratory diseases
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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.
Scours
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Piglets should be treated quickly with
antibiotics as nutritional scours can rapidly
turn into bacterial scours.
Good hygiene essential, clean out daily.
References
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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
Questions?