[yankieGirl]

5 month old pig.  Yesterday he was slow to get up and not too interested in food.

This morning he didn't get up at all for food.  I went in the pen and he got up.  I noticed he has red blotches all over his body.  I would blame it on bug bites but the other 3 in the pen are fine.

He looks sick in the eyes.

Help, any suggestions.

[fifixx]

sounds like Erisypilis - I would call the vet asap

[princesspiggy]

does anyone vaccinate for erisyphillis? our vet said not to bother.
good luck

[supplies for smallholders]

does anyone vaccinate for erisyphillis? our vet said not to bother.
good luck

We vaccinate breeding sows as a matter of course..

[HappyHippy]

I do.
I spoke to our vet about it as I thought I was perhaps doing it unnecessarily, but a couple of weeks later I got a phonecall from someone I got weaners from to say they'd had a case in some bought in pigs from elsewhere. Suffice to say I do still carry on with the vaccinations. IMHO while it won't kill your pigs (providing you get anti-b's into them quickly) it does mean an end to their breeding carreer and a £15 bottle of medicine -v- the loss of a breeding pig, well there's no contest  
Karen x

[princesspiggy]

do u inject it urselves then, maybe we should too, we had all good intentions last year but was told by vet it wasnt neccessary as wev only a few pigs.

[HappyHippy]

Yeah, we do the jags ourselves. It's not too bad once you get the hang of it (honest !) For the first injections, they need 2 jags - 4 weeks apart and every 6 months thereafter. 2ml per pig by sub-cutanious injection behind the ear (even piglets from 6 weeks - but they're a doddle cos you can hold them the bigger ones get it in the neck, as it were as their heads hit the feed trough and never give a second thought to it) I buy Porcillis Ery (sp?) from Vetmedsdirect on-line, it's about £14 per bottle but I'm sure there are loads of other suppliers. You might even want to consider getting a prescription from your vet for the Ery + Parvo injection depending on your farrowing record and herd health plan. There's been lots of discussion over whether or not you can store the bottle once it's been breached (to save buying 2 bottles for the first rounds of injections) but the concensus is NO - best with 2 bottles. Just remember to get the correct size of needles depending on the pig you're injecting - Homefield Farm services are good for offering advice on this if you're not sure on sizes and also do a range of needles, syringes and meds - I've used them too and find them really good - they've got vets on-hand too if you ever have a query or problem.
HTH
Karen

[princesspiggy]

worth reconsidering then 
hows ur pig yankiegirl?

[yankieGirl]

Thanks for all the advise.  Looks like the verdict is Erysipilis (the spellings I have seen!!). 

After checking with some reliable sources we are going with a course of penicillin.  (Everyone I talked with said I could vaccinate but they themselves did not.)

The pig looks miserable.  I hate this animal business when one of them is sick.  I feel so helpless and sad.

I will post tomorrow on progress.

Thanks again!!!!  I love this site.

[fifixx]

Check the doses of penicillin - when the vet came out for our pig, she gave her 2 quite strong doses 3 days apart as well as some anti-inflammatories - as their joints really hurt with erisypilis

They aren't any good for breeding after, but fine for meat

[Tiva Diva]

It's awful when they're sick, but erysipelas usually responds quickly to penicillin. Good luck!

[yankieGirl]

Update:

Sick pig responding well to penicillin.  Another one has the spots and is off food.  Hubby and I gave all 4 in the pen a shot.  (What a cluster!  Should of had that in film.)  We will give another tomorrow morning.

I hope it doesn't present in the two gilts across the barn in another pen.

Why no breeding after infection?

[HappyHippy]

It weakens the joints. You'd potentially be looking at a pig that couldn't cope with the weight gain of pregnancy and I think the weakness might get passed on to the piglets (but could be wrong about that bit)
Either way - it's just not good practice to be breeding from them I'm afraid 
Karen x

[Bright Raven]

A tip for giving sick pigs powdered penicillin. Mix up the dose in an egg cup with a spoon full of honey so you have a gloopy blob. Cut up some apples and dip them into the mix and feed them by hand. Even if your pigs are really lethargic you should be able to get the whole dose into them. You also know how much each pig got if you do individual portions that way.

I hope they recover soon. xxx

[Tudful Tamworths]

yankieGirl: don't mess about where erysipelas is concerned - vaccinate the lot NOW, whether they are showing signs or not.