[Tamsaddle]

I had it in my weaners last year, and all of them had been vaccinated with Porcilis Ery at 6 and 10 weeks old, so even doing that doesn't provide complete protection.    They may have got it more mildly though, and all three recovered completely within 3 or 4 days with the penicillin jabs, no residual long term effects thank goodness.   If you decide to vaccinate, all pigs require a 2 ml dose regardless of size/age, so it might be worth getting one of the graduated gun vaccinators that re-load themselves with 2 ml every time.   It is a complete doddle to use, one-handed, and far far easier than an ordinary syringe and needle.  Available at VetMedsDirect where I get my Porc Ery from.   So very sorry you lost your pig Bumblebear. 

[Bionic]

Awww, Bumblebear I feel for you. Thats very sad.
I have 2 weaners who are due off soon and I would be devastated if it were to happen to me.
I must admit I hadn't heard of it before, still learning.

[Hassle]

That's sad

[Bumblebear]

I'm confused as she didn't have a rash nor lesions   could it have been anything else?  Although I suppose  you don't get a high temp with heat stroke   the question is what I do now?  How do I introduce another gilt?  The local petting farm has a kune cross available which is a similar age/size.  He also said he had never seen a case of ery out of a commercial farm (when i asked if he vaccinated) and maybe she got dehydrated.  I suppose the why and wheres aren't important now she's gone

[Hassle]

Split the field in half one running one side then after a week the smallest or gentlest pig stays on its half and the other one gets moved out of its territory.

As to whys and where fores there are thousands of diseases pigs can and do pick up you did the best you could if it was to ever happen again there are labs that can do postmortems and if something similar happened I'd be inclined to go that route. 

They charge about 70 quid and each stage or test that adds on they check with your vet who will advise to proceed or not so you don't get charged stupid money.

[Bumblebear]

But I only have one ark.....

[ferretkeeper]

So sad for you BB  it's horrible to lose any animal for any reason. Why did the vet think Ery without those symptoms? I do need to fully understand when an animal has problems or dies so that next time I'm faced with a problem I'm more prepared or put things in place to prevent it happening again.

Inclined to agree with HH, might be best to take the remaining pig off sooner, although it'll be fine on it's own for a short time if it's not quite big enough esp if you have other animals around and/or you're about a lot.

If you do decide to get another will you take them both off together, otherwise you'll have the same situation again?

Can you leave the trailer in the field for the pig to shelter in or maybe knock up something temporary with straw bales?

I'm not happy to read that the vaccine hasn't worked for you Tamsaddle, why is that? Do adult pigs have better uptake/protection from being vaccinated every six months? I'll still do it regardless, some protection is better than none.

[Eastling]

So sorry for your loss. It is heart breaking.


You can make up a shelter using straw bales tied together and then add a roof as a temporary shelter.


As to introducing a new pig, I spent nearly a week fannying around getting myself in a state, due to the different sizes of them. But when I put the new pig in with the older one we had a bit of shouting and a bit of pushing around, Now they are the best of friends.


Good luck

[HappyHippy]

I'm not happy to read that the vaccine hasn't worked for you Tamsaddle, why is that? Do adult pigs have better uptake/protection from being vaccinated every six months? I'll still do it regardless, some protection is better than none.

We use Porcillis Ery to vaccinate our pigs, here's what I know about it...
Initial dose is 2 jabs, 4 weeks apart then a booster every 6 months - we've done this with all our breeding stock/piglets and haven't had a problem so far. 
I think storage of the vaccine is crucial - it's an active vaccine (I think) and needs to be kept constantly cool - if it isn't stored properly it can affect how well it performs (advice given by my vet - who charges the same for the bottles as Vetsmeds direct  ) So there's possibly been an issue with storage/transportation via the supplier. Also, you can't store & reuse the bottle - once it's open you've got a maximum of 10 hours to use it (I think it starts to lose 'potency' after this)
HTH a wee bit Ferretkeeper ?

[Tamsaddle]

I've no idea at all why 3 of my weaners got erisypelas last year - they were the only ones out of nearly a hundred piglets we have bred over the last 5 years, everyone of them vaccinated against Ery.    I always store the bottle in the fridge and use it at once, usually within 2 hours of first piercing the seal.    The only odd factor was that they got it within 2 weeks of a sow returning from visiting a boar, although I had understood they can't catch it from other pigs, only from the ground, and the sow herself showed no signs of illness or ery, and went on to have a normal pregnancy and litter.  So I will never know why, but it certainly has not put me off using Porcilis Ery on all our other piglets, plus the 6 month booster on adult pigs.   It is such an easy jab to do, and for all but these 3, we have been completely clear of any sign of it, so it may well have worked perfectly well for the majority.    By the way, the 3 weaners affected were the complete group we had at the time, all the others had by then gone off for slaughter several months earlier.     

[Bumblebear]

The vet thought ery because of the high temp.  As she was a Berkshire I have resumed it would be too hard to see any lesions but  what do I know.  We are going to collect a Tamworth which is a similar weight 40kg fish and we'll send them together when its time.  Never had a Tamworth before and its a lot more expensive to buy a bigger pig.  On top of the Vet bills and fallen stock fee.  Flipping heck this will be truly expensive per pound pork.  Tamsaddle did yours have lesions?

[nelson]

Hi Bumblebear - sorry to hear about your loss.

We live in SW France and this disease is known as Rouge - the vet said "it is often linked to sheep being on the land"  however a friend of ours had 2 Berkshire x pietrain and at 5 months they were diagnosed with Ery (Rouge). They went down and wouldn't eat - the vet came and treated - they recovered and went to slaughter later. My husband helped out with the course of injections - he could not see the lesions - though the vet could. How is your other berkshire?

Lorraine (also known as Nelson) lost my password 

[Tamsaddle]

The weaner who got it first didn't turn up to eat breakfast having been completely OK the night before - she looked very lame and stiff and eventually hobbled over to join the other two but showed no interest in eating.   I took her temperature and found it was about 41, then felt her all over and first discovered what felt like noticeably raised bumps, about 6mm higher than skin level.   It was only when I looked at the bumps in detail I discovered they were red and vaguely diamond shaped as well - these pigs were Tamworths so normally they have pink coloured skin.    When I phoned the vet he diagnosed Ery immediately due to the sudden high temp, despite my protestations that they had been vaccinated - he said this was not uncommon at all.   The other two had very high temperatures the following morning, so I injected them immediately with penicillin too, but probably caught it before they became really ill or went off their food, but one of the two was starting to show red, but flat, lesions as well.    All three, and the first one who was showing all the classic symptoms, recovered completely within a few days, so it sounds like we were quite lucky.    I get the feeling, like with meningitis in children, the speed with which you can get the penicillin jabs in is crucial - in our case the first pig was injected by 11 am, having shown no signs of being ill at 6 pm the previous evening.    Glad to hear you are getting a replacement Tamworth - they are absolutely gorgeous pigs, very friendly and alert, and not at all difficult to look after.  I'm nuts about them, IMO the most beautiful pig in the world by far.   Good luck - Tamsaddle   

[Tamsaddle]

By the way, I would introduce the new Tamworth to your Berkshire almost at once.   They will be desperate to meet each other, and the initial arguing that will occur when they are put together will take place regardless of the interval before they are allowed into the same space.   So you might as well get it over and done with sooner rather than later!     Don't worry unduly about them chasing and trying to bite each other's ears - it is all part of the ritual of establishing which of the two is going to be top pig.   The "loser" usually has to sleep outside the ark for one or two nights, then they will sleep together, and within 3 or 4 days will be the best of friends with all the bickering completely forgotten.  I have always found it a complete waste of time providing a second, temporary ark, as it is never, ever used, not even if it is raining or blowing a gale.

[ferretkeeper]

Thanks Tamsaddle, I will be adding Penicillin to the list of meds I want to keep on hand. I had a long chat with my vet a couple of weeks ago and I do believe what they say and trust them BUT they don't always know everything...

I too have a lot of Tamworths and Iron age pigs (inc my Boar) in my mixed up herd, they are so cool!

And I also put new pigs into the group quickly, I don't bring single pigs in though, so they have some safety in their numbers. I might let them have a day to get acquainted through the fence from the holding pen, but they will always have their squabbles to get the pecking order sorted.

You will pay more for a larger pig BUT you haven't got the cost of feeding etc for anything like as long. I bought a couple of TW girlies at that size in May and they were ready last month - didn't take them to slaughter though, I'm keeping them for breeding!