Author Topic: selenium deficiency (Read 2274 times)

Berkshire Boy · « **on:** November 22, 2011, 09:13:00 am »

On Sunday morning one of my sows was a bit wheezy and off her food, I put it down to the weather as it was damp and foggy. In the afternoon when I went to feed them she was breathing very badly.
Called the vet out who took her temperature which was a bit low but said she was seriously ill and her heart was struggling.
She said it could be Selenium and vit e deficiency so jabbed her and also gave her a large dose of anti biotics. She wasn't hopefull and said she would most probably not make it through the night.
Gave her a last check before I went to bed and her breathing had got a lot better, in the morning she was still alive and just a little wheezy but not eating.
I have just come in from feeding and she was outside the ark waiting for me and has just polished off double rations.
I am now going to have a chat with the vet and sort out about what and how often I will need to inject the whole herd, not going through that again.
I must admit I did know we were deficient in selenium as we had to have the horses
jabbed a couple of years ago but had not seen anything about pigs.

HappyHippy · « **Reply #1 on:** November 22, 2011, 06:54:13 pm »

Glad she's okay BB.

Rosemary · « **Reply #2 on:** November 22, 2011, 07:48:51 pm »

Phew - glad she's OK.

Tudful Tamworths · « **Reply #3 on:** November 23, 2011, 12:06:50 am »

I did a bit of research on this in sheep when starting my Animal Science degree, but have never encountered it pigs. In sheep, the deficiency of selenium causes white muscle disease - also known as nutritional muscular dystrophy.

As vitamin E and selenium work in conjunction with another, supplementing with additional vitamin E is the first step - though this will take a couple of weeks at least to take effect. Good pasture and fodder which includes peas and beans etc provide plenty of vitamin E, whereas other food sources, like silage and root crops aren't so good. Also, if you store feed for too long, or in poor conditions, the vitamin level can drop.

Blonde · « **Reply #4 on:** November 23, 2011, 03:38:09 am »

Quote from: Berkshire Boy on November 22, 2011, 09:13:00 am

On Sunday morning one of my sows was a bit wheezy and off her food, I put it down to the weather as it was damp and foggy. In the afternoon when I went to feed them she was breathing very badly.
Called the vet out who took her temperature which was a bit low but said she was seriously ill and her heart was struggling.
She said it could be Selenium and vit e deficiency so jabbed her and also gave her a large dose of anti biotics. She wasn't hopefull and said she would most probably not make it through the night.
Gave her a last check before I went to bed and her breathing had got a lot better, in the morning she was still alive and just a little wheezy but not eating.
I have just come in from feeding and she was outside the ark waiting for me and has just polished off double rations.
I am now going to have a chat with the vet and sort out about what and how often I will need to inject the whole herd, not going through that again.
I must admit I did know we were deficient in selenium as we had to have the horses
jabbed a couple of years ago but had not seen anything about pigs.

:You should be able to have your pellets made up with selenium added rather than giving them an injection every so often. Your horses also should have selenium in their feed the ground you are on is short of that element. One the injection is working then just kekeping the feed up to them is enough to keep the levels up to the animals affected by the deficinecy. We here in Oz are also selenium deficient. I get my minerals made up by a commercial business and keep in touch with them from time to time reporting any problems and they will change the diet to suit the pigs..

Berkshire Boy · « **Reply #5 on:** November 23, 2011, 08:53:17 am »

Thanks for best wishes and advice she is now back to normal.
Liz, I read up on it afterwards and it seems that it comes on very quickly and usually the only way it is detected is post mortem. I've had 2 young gilts die suddenly over the last year or so and am now wondering if it could be the same.
The vet said that supplements in feed didn't work very well for pigs and that a jab would be better so I will look into that over the next day or so and get it sorted.
Out of all this the heart warming thing was that on the Sunday morning when I first noticed she was a bit wheezy I put some wedges of fresh straw in the ark and the boar shook them all up to break them and carried it to the other end of the ark and made a bed up for her and spent all day snuggled up to her, some things just make it worth while.

Rosemary · « **Reply #6 on:** November 23, 2011, 10:16:43 am »

What a lovely boar

Love your wee tagline by the way.

HappyHippy · « **Reply #7 on:** November 24, 2011, 09:22:20 am »

Quote from: Berkshire Boy on November 23, 2011, 08:53:17 am

Out of all this the heart warming thing was that on the Sunday morning when I first noticed she was a bit wheezy I put some wedges of fresh straw in the ark and the boar shook them all up to break them and carried it to the other end of the ark and made a bed up for her and spent all day snuggled up to her, some things just make it worth while.

That's why I love pigs