[Bluff]

We have 4 pigs which we are fattening up. About 6 months old and due to go in about 2 weeks. This morning one would not come out of the ark. She wasn't hot, not panting no obvious injuries but not interested in food at all. When she did stand briefly she seemed a bit groggy. Since then she has only just got up for a wee , had a tiny drink, sniffed at food then sleeping again. Now another has gone the same way!
They seem alert as when the remaining two nudge them they respond.
None of them are very hungry tonight tbh but the remaining two gave pottered about all day.
The two that are "down" look groggy if anything.
Called the vet who can't think of anything we can do to help at this stage.
Does anyone have any ideas?
They have an area about 25n x 30m plenty of water no grass left and can't reach anything but the odd nettle.
Thanks

[landroverroy]

If you look at a previous post by Daisys Mum on 9th July 2011, she had a similar problem and there were several suggestions. One was that it could be a bad batch of feed. Worth looking at anyway, as there might be something relevant.

[Bluff]

Thank you. Will do

[harmony]

Have you taken their temperature? If I had two sick pigs out of four I would have the vet out. Although if they "can't think of anything" it might be that is a worry too. Does their skin feel bubbly or rough. What are their dropping like although they will get hard if they are not drinking. Is the drinking water OK.


Erysipaleas, pneumonia, food poisoning.....


Pigs tend to go off colour quickly and can also deteriorate quickly too. However, they generally respond to treatment quickly too.

[Bluff]

Thank you. They actually seem ok other than off their food. Temp seems normal etc.
We have just smelt their food and compared it to an unopened bag and it smells musty. Like mushrooms. So I tried them with a weed or two from the garden and they went mad for that. So think it's def the food. Which is a shame as we just topped up the bins. But never mind. Poor girls. Have taken all food away now. And will observe overnight
Thank you for the advice
Donna

[harmony]

It is very hard to "judge" temperature unless you use a thermometer. You can have a sky high temp and feel cold.


What a nuisance if you just filled your bins. Sometimes when the feed is bagged there can be sweating and the food deteriorates. It is always good to check sell by dates but of course we don't. You might be able to get the feed people to replace it if you can prove you just bought it and it can gone musty. Good luck    Too expensive to waste!

[Marches Farmer]

We've had feed affected by mould on several occasions - if undetected it can cause serious problems in a breeding herd, leading to small litters and abortions. We now always check every feed sack by sticking our noses into it when first opened and sniffing hard, and always look at each bucketful in a good light before we lob it over the fence.  Mould will present as a slightly chalky look, sometimes greyish-green, on the surface of the pellets.  It's often caused by the feed being bagged at the mill when conditions are very humid, thus sealing the damp air in with the pellets.  Our feed merchant has always arranged for the bags to be replaced by the merchant concerned.  Ours are stored on pallets in a secure block and tin building, so we know the feed hasn't been contaminated at this end.

[Bluff]

Thank you. In our 7 years of pigs we have never had this before but will now be wary and as you suggest check every bag before it is fed to them. They are all brighter today but the v poorly one still not back to normal. None of them wanted any food this morning but are def brighter. No food for them today only water and let's see if that helps. We had planned to move them this weekend and were relying on them following the bucket! Ha ha. Can't plan anything with animals can you. At least they seem a bit better and that is the only thing that matters. They might be bound for meat but we still think of them as friends when they are here. Thank you for all your advice. Really appreciated

[Bluff]

Only adding a comment in case it helps anyone else. She has been lying in the mud all afternoon looking like she had given up the ghost. We spent quite a bit of time syringing a mixture of water salt sugar and bicarb into her mouth and it really bucked her up. She lifted her head up and sought out the syringe. Gave her enough energy to go back to the ark. Not sure we are out of the woods yet but fingers crossed

[TheSmilingSheep]

Just reading this.  We've never had an issue with food, but will now regularly take a good sniff of the feed sacks.
Did you have a happy ending?

[Bluff]

Well they are all fine now and in fact we are just in the process of loading 2 of them ready for the abattoir ( 5 hours so far and counting. Nightmare)
Took them a few days to get over it though
Thanks for asking
We are also sniffing every bag of food now!

[TheSmilingSheep]

That's good news.  It struck a cord when you wrote that even though consigned for the freezer one cares terribly if they are unwell...
Five hours trying to load!  Poor you....  The last few years we've backed the trailer to the edge of the paddock and fed them inside for the last three days before departure.  They are always hesitant on day one, but by the morning of departure they are barging us to get in - which takes a huge amount of the stress out of the day.

[Bluff]

In now after 7.5 hours. Trouble is they are off tomorrow but are in an area that is not easy to load from ( clearly!!) so  we move them to an easy loading place day before. They just wouldn't get in. We had them in a tiny space just in front of the ramp but they would not go up. In the end we had to leave them to it and let them move in their own time
Tea and cake now before we tag them!!
Remind me why we do this??

[Marches Farmer]

Yum, yum ....?

[Bluff]

So so true. The flipping pigs are now sleeping in the trailer and won't come out!! Couldn't make it up