[bibs]

A couple of my piglets have woken up with a cough today. My pig book is on loan to a friend who is away - can anyone advise me what it could be?? Worms?? Thanks

[oaklandspigs]

Bibs,

could be a number of things- can you add some further detail?

Sudden illness or come on over a few days - as in "woken up this morning" and not before?
How many out of how many are suffering?
what sort of cough - raspy, from lung or throat, wet or dry?
Any other symptoms -  nose discharge,lethargy, eating/ not eating
Check water is clean and running.
Ones with symptoms all at same stage,or some worse/better than others
Have you taken temperature - if so take a second time and let us know what it is and is it going up or down
What environment are they in, how lonmg have they been there - have you moved them recently,or has something started to flower/fruit/grow
With recent rain is housing/bedding warm and dry?
What is different today than yesterday that might cause problem?

[bibs]

Thanks for reply

just 2 out of 9 affected. Sow is well. All 9 lively , running , playing eating all fine. water clean. It's a raspy dry sort of cough. Wondering if bedding needs changing ie dust ? Recent heavy rain. Haven't moved them or done anything different with them. Stayed with them for a long time this am to observe. The coughing is only occasional and I just went out again now , and spent 15 mins with no coughing at all. Does that help at all ?? cheers Bibs x

[bibs]

sorry and forgot to say , they are in an outdoor run - big - with trees Hawthorn on perimeter. They have a big arc with a mixture of straw and shavings ( like horse bedding ) and a stone sty with same. Bedding is dry. Haven't taken temps. They all look exceptionally well - but I am worried .

[oaklandspigs]

How old are they?

If they are otherwise fine, I would seperate off the two and take temperature to see of they have something.  If temperature then you can treat, if no temperature not alot to do for now but observe.

Initial response would be that they probably have something if it is consistently those two that cough, so you come down to three possibilities. 
1. Mum had something sub-clinical (eg a carrier or she has it midly and showing no symptoms) and has passed on.
2. These two have picked up something from the environment eg eaten something - less likely unless others have got it - normally little ones all pile in and investigate together
3. Two have got a chill (maybe not slept in the right place)

Did you buy the sow in pig,or has she been with you for a long time?

Come back and if not me other forum guys willno doubt have some ideas

[little blue]

was mum wormed prior to farrowing?

[bibs]

Hi
just want to thank everyone who helped me sort this out. Don't know why , but coughing has stopped. Bedding changed and wormer purchased. Fingers crossed they won't start again. Cheers everyone who helped. Bibs x

[oaklandspigs]

Thanks for the update, was wondering how they were !

[Pigglewiggle]

Hi,

 We have a couple of coughing piglets too, we are thinking it is probably lungworm. We wormed the mother last week, as we didn't do it before she had them as we were unsure of dates.

 we are thinking we need to worm the piglets now.. but have a couple of questions.

 How do you ensure that you only give the piglets the right dose ? we normally use a slap shot on the large pigs. But not sure if this will work on small ones, only 3 weeks old. It say's 0.1ml per 3kg weight.

 But if we use normal syringes, they will shriek like mad, run off and the mother will get upset.

 Can you use that Verm-X with the food ? will that work. ?

  Any ideas would be very welcome.

 Thanks Debbie

[HappyHippy]

I'm not sure about using the verm-x on food (not used it myself) but doing the piglets at three weeks old with a needle isn't THAT bad - providing there's 2 of you.

The way I do it is to get 3 or 4 piglets out of the pen and into a dog cage or big sturdy box. Take them out of the box one at a time and one of you holds the piglet against your chest, close to you and firmly - the squeeling should only last for seconds providing you hold it securely, mark it BEFORE you jag it (saves any confusion when you go in for the next lot ) give it the jag and put it back in the pen. Providing mum still has some of her piglets (or is distracted by a big bucket of food) and the ones you're working with aren't shreiking their heads off she should be fine. But, like I say, we always do the jagging on the other side of the gate from the sow - just in case

Hopefully someone will come along and tell you verm-x is fine and you'll not need to worry about it - but it's worth getting some practice jagging piglets, especially if you're going to go down the breeding route. It's nervewracking at first but the more you do it the more confident you'll become.
HTH
Karen x

[Pigglewiggle]

Hi Karen,

  That's tomorrow's job then, we have a crate that we have used to transport piglets in the car.

  Will put the piglets in and get them jabbed. will let you know tomorrow how it goes.

  Debbie x

 

[Hilarysmum]

How did you get on with the injections?

[little blue]

I understood Verm x was more a keeping-away than a worm killer.. ie, if you chemically dose to kill the woorms, eggs etc then use verm x afterwards it should prevent a re-infestation.

(but that could be just the vet wanting to charge me for Panacur!  It perked up the chickens anyway, more than VX ever does!)

[Pigglewiggle]

Hi,

  Need to try again tomorrow, spent an hour trying to catch them. Next step is to build a small pen and herd them in,
They are in a large space at the mo with mum, so need to build a smaller pen inside to get them into.

 Debbie