[mulberry100]

Hi I'm new to pigs, and we have had our 3 pigs for about 3 weeks now. Yesterday morning one of the gilts (age 5 months) was not interested in her food, and went into her house.Later in the day we noticed red sellings in patches on her face, abdomen and rump on one side. we assumed she had lain on a wasps nest and gave her some antihistamine.She remained depressed and in her house all day. this morning she ate half her food, then went inside again. There are now more swellings. I phoned the vet to check we were doing the right thing with the antihistamine and he said he suspected erysipelas. I am waiting for him now, as he says she will need antibiotics.
How serious is this? Will the antibiotics prevent us being able to send her to the abattoir early September.
Is this something that she has caught from our land, or do you think she had it when she arrived.
as you can tell, I am pretty worried.
Thanks
Sarah

[dixie]

Yes sounds like erysipelas, it is serious and needs treating with anti biotics, hopefully she will make a full recovery, hard to say where she got it, but it may be from your ground, fingers crossed for her. She will be fine for slaughter in September the withdrawal period is I think? 21 days.

[JulieS]

Yes I agree with dixie, it does sound like erysipelas.  I hope everything turns out OK.   Depending on which antibiotic the vets prescribes it will be 21  or 28 days withdrawl, so you will be OK for September.

Let us know how you get on.

[mulberry100]

Yes, the vet confirmed the diagnosis of erysipelas and gave 8ml of Depocillin. He said that she should be back to normal in about 3 days. He has left some antibiotic in case the other pigs get it. He suggested in future any weaners should be vaccinated.
Thanks
Sarah

[gavo]

Don't worry about vaccinations it really is not that common; we;ve kept pigs for 7 years and bred several hundred[all outdoors] and we;ve had two cases in all that time . It responds very well to abs and your pig should be fine.

[Dan35]

Hi All,
Just been reading this post as I'm 99% sure our two weaners are suffering from ery' at the moment. I have injected them with Duphapen Fort (penicillin) as a friend had some to hand and on the literature it says pigs must not go to slaughter within 10 days of the last dose. Are the time scales you quote related to specific products or is there an "over-ruling" regulation of 21/28 days I should be aware of??
Many thanks
Dan

[gavo]

If the product you used states 10 days then that is it's withdrawal period. Each product will have this listed on it's packaging and can vary from product to product.

[fifixx]

My gilt had erysipilis earlier in the summer and made a full recovery about 3 days after the injections.  I was going to breed from her but have been advised against it as the disease can weaken their heart and joints - so more sausages!

The vet said it can be brought in with birds (I have loads of jackdaws around) or just in the soil - so I'll vaccinate from now on if i bring in any weaners.

[Dan35]

Hi "fifixx", when your pigs were recovering were they a bit "wobbly" on their feet for a while. Its been 3 days since we treated them and they are now up and about and eating again but still seem a but unstable occasionally??
Thanks - Dan

[fifixx]

The first one took a few days - and the second one got erysipilis a couple of days ago - talk about bad luck!  We injected her early on and she was fine in a day or 2.

Vaccinate from now on - the vet said once it's on the farm, it will never go away from the soil

[daniellestocks]

So i think me may have Erysipelas atm in two of our gilts and some weaners  booooo
Whats advisable to do? vaccinate sows and boar and all weaners we produce? two that have it have just had there first litters, would it be unwise to continue breeding from these?
 

[Tudful Tamworths]

Always vaccinate against erysipelas. Please don't trust to luck.

This is one thing you shouldn't skimp on. The vaccine is fairly cheap and well worth it. Don't forget to do the boars as well - lots of people think it's just the gilts and sows that need attention, but they're wrong.

Best wishes to anyone who's dealing with it right now - glad you caught it in time.

[HappyHippy]

So i think me may have Erysipelas atm in two of our gilts and some weaners  booooo
Whats advisable to do? vaccinate sows and boar and all weaners we produce? two that have it have just had there first litters, would it be unwise to continue breeding from these?
 

Unfortunately yes Danielle, you shouldn't breed with them now.
In future (if you decide to get more stock for breeding) vaccinate the sow before farrowing and this will give the piglets protection. Initially you should give a dose then follow 2 weeks later with a second, after that it's just once every 6 months. I get mine from these guys http://www.vetmedsdirect.co.uk/search.php?search_query=ery
*It's a 'live' vaccine, and there's been debate about whether it will store and be ok to reuse it (becaue it comes in a 25 dose bottle and many folk only have 1 or 2 pigs)- the official word from the manufacturers is DO NOT store it. So for your first round of vaccines you'll need 2 bottles.
HTH,
Karen

[daniellestocks]

Thanks guys