[Bumblebear]

They seem to get on fine!   I know its a stupid thing to say but as breeds they are chalk and cheese.  My rounded jerky lardy Berkshire and this quite graceful calm pointy ginger pig.  I do love pigs.  Sigh.

[Button End Beasts]

Tamsaddle, is the ery vaccine available from vet meds without a prescription? Would you recommend that over the mixed ery and parvovirus jab? Also, can you let me know which applicator gun you brought from vetmeds. There seem to be loads on there and the product descriptions weren't all that great. Thanks!

[Tamsaddle]

I buy the smallest bottle of Porcilis Ery, 50 ml which does 25 doses, and is available without prescription.   If I am getting it for weaners I buy two bottles as you need to vaccinate twice, 4 weeks apart, eg. 6 weeks and 10 weeks old, and one bottle only lasts for 10 hours once opened.   Awful waste unless you have 25 pigs, but that is the smallest amount available anywhere.    I have often thought about getting the combined parvovirus vaccine, but never have - I am not quite sure how important it is, nor for that matter whether that one is prescription or not.    When I went on my Pig Paradise course ages ago they were adamant about the importance of vaccinating against erisypelas specifically rather than anything else, so that's why I've always used just the Ery vaccine.   The vaccinator gun is also available at Vetmedsdirect, on the pig pages near the Porcilis Ery listing - it is a green coloured one made by Intervet for Porcilis, and you want the one that delivers a 2 ml dose, which is what is required for Porcilis Ery, regardless of the pig's age or size.   Definitely worth getting, very easy and accurate to use.

[Button End Beasts]

Thanks Tamsaddle, that's very useful.  Was planning on getting Flo and her piglets vaccinated but my vet can be a bit useless, and, unless its an emergency, he never seems to call me back. I desperately need to get the vaccine done as the piglets are coming up to 6 weeks and I have a buyer for them coming to collect when they are 10 weeks old. So will be great to get it from vet meds myself.

[Button End Beasts]

Hi,


I have my vaccines and vaccine gun for erysipelas but I am wondering which needles to use?  Am planning on doing the weaners, 6 weeks old, and Flo, sow > 1year. Am at work at mo and tried looking up the info on vet meds direct but the site doesn't say anything about needles but says it is a deep intramuscular injection, behind the ear.


thanks in advance!


Beki

[Hassle]

These are the needle sizes I hold and use for IM

Piglet   5/8"   21g   
Weaner   1"   19g   
Finisher   1.5"   16g   
Adult   2"   16g

The needle need to be robust enough that if the pig turns it doesn't break and long enough to get through the fat

[Tamsaddle]

These are about the same size needles I would use, but probably would go for the 3/4" rather than 5/8" for piglets.   The needles I am using for Porc Ery for the 6 and 10 week old pigs are 1" x 18g and the Luer lock, all metal, reuseable type, as they are very sturdy and unlikely to bend or break.     The needles with a plastic end are OK, but you should have several available as they bend easily if you don't get the needle straight in, as Hassle said.   Then you have all the hassle (sorry!) of having to have another go which your pig wont like one bit.


Another thing to bear in mind with any jabs is the viscosity of the medicine.    Something with the consistency of water will go through a thin gauge needle much more quickly than something thick and glutinous.    With an adult pig requiring more than a 5 ml dose of something with a thick consistency, I would probably use a 14 or 13 gauge needle - they look enormous but get the stuff in. 


Porc Ery is like thin milk and doesn't require a particularly fat needle.    And as you have the gun you should find it really easy, as only one hand is required to do the jab and you can use the other hand to hold on to the pig if needed.    Good luck!     PS  Unless you have 25 pigs to do, do a few squirts on to the ground first, keeping the bottle above the gun, and making sure there are minimal air bubbles in with the liquid.    Also, try and remember to keep the gun handle depressed until you have withdrawn the needle from the pig, then release it slowly as it fills itself up again.

[Button End Beasts]

Questions, questions. Getting a bit worked up about vaccinating these piglets. Never done such little ones before.  Do you usually inject behind the ear for ery or would the leg be better?


Thanks again!

[Tamsaddle]

Behind the ear to mid-neck is best, as the skin is quite soft and easy to pierce.    Try to avoid injecting directly into a vein, which I did accidentally once - piglet looked very wobbly for 10 minutes but fortunately recovered quite quickly.    Sometimes I get the jab straight in and they barely notice, other piglets squeal like mad, wriggle and shake their heads violently.   The first ones will be the easiest, as they have no idea what's coming.    A large group soon gets the idea something's going on, and they will scamper all over the place to avoid their turn.   If this happens it's useful to have two people, one to restrain the pig/pig's head just long enough to get the injection in.    Best thing is to stop worrying and just to get on with it whichever way you can, ignoring the noise - it stops instantly once the jab's done.


If you are having a really hard time catching them and keeping them still enough to get it in behind the ear, the rump will do instead, but definitely avoid the spinal area or any bony parts, choose the centre of a very fleshy bit.   Our sows usually make less of a fuss than the piglets with this jab, which for them is a very small dose and very quick to do.    I do them within the first minute of starting a meal when they are totally pre-occupied scoffing nuts, and if possible first rub/scratch, quite hard, the exact spot I am going to inject.


Another useful thing if you have quite a lot of piglets to inject is a marker pen so you can be quite sure which ones have been done and which not.


One other thing I didn't mention before - always check the chamber on the vaccinator gun has re-loaded fully before doing the next jab.   Sometimes it only half fills up, when the handle is released too fast or the bottle has gone sideways/upside down.   

[Bumblebear]

Well I'll be buying vaccinated stock next year!