The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: Mannimel on November 05, 2013, 08:46:47 am
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morning all, i have a question, i have a pig that has got a cold, he has a house that is draft free and raised off the ground, with plenty of straw in, but some how he has managed to contract a cold, runny nose and off his food, he does get up and come out has a little root around drink of water and goes back and burries himself in the straw, is there anything i can give him to help bring the cold out of him and get him back to 100% fitness.
cheers guys
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Pigs are very suseptible to human germs so good chance it is a cold.
Check his temperature anything below or above the norm will need a call to the vet.
So long as the pig has plenty of dry warm straw and fluids they should recover.
Try tempting the with titbits of apple & banana or milk.
We have also resorted to Calpol (5ml syringe full in mouth) in young pigs and it usually does the trick.
Having another pig for company would help keep him warm if hes an only one!
hth
Mandy :pig:
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Ditto Mandy on the company thing ;) One pig on it's own will be cold and as winter sets in, miserable without another pig to snuggle into.
It's also worth checking the arc still has ventilation - a stuffy atmosphere inside it won't help.
You could try honey mixed with a little warm water (he'll drink it from a squeezy sports bottle)
If he seems chesty you might need to get some Tylan from your vet for him (put it in the drinking water ;)) or you can give him a jag of Draxin but only if it goes on for a while and/or get's worse.
HTH
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on the company part no he is a boar running with 5 girlies at the moment all OSB's large house that gets topped up every day with fresh straw so plenty of warmth in there, he is normally the one in the middle, just a little reluctant to a massive vet bill if there was a general cold remedy anyone knows of. i have got pen and strep anti biotic that yesturday i gave him a shot of he has seemed to perk back up a little so never know hopefully he is on the mend
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Just to add that we had one of our pigs' lungs condemned recently at slaughter with "pneumonia without abcess" - we never noticed any cough, runny nose etc , he was only not growing as well as his brother and killed out at significantly less - so I would give a shot of AB's if your boy is sniffly and off-colour, just to be on the safe side.
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have done the AB route he is my boar for breeding not for meat that is the worst part about it he is a big lad, never had issues like this before but always have AB at hand in case
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Which a/b? If something like Pen & Strep hasn't worked you may need Draxxin, which goes to the lungs and stays there. The withdrawal period is 33 days. An anti-inflammatory may also be a good idea. You need to get him back 100% fit before the bad weather really kicks in. Draxxin is expensive but a new boar will cost you a lot more. Speak to your vet. Your sows won't benefit from being housed with a pig with pneumonia, either.