Vaccinations and such

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easttex

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 13, 2010
Messages
250
Location
Texas
Like I have posted on here befroe, we are new to the pig showing. Have a few questions; how often do you worm your pigs (what kind does everybody use), is there any other vaccines that pigs need or any other suggetions? Also what kind of bedding does everybody think is better sand or shavings? We have concrete pens.

Also it was suggested to buy two pigs so, is it ok to keep them in the same pen until I start feeding them by weight and then just seperate them, but where they can still see each other?

 

willow

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Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
308
This forum is a little sluggish!  As far as vaccinations go we have never given any, but talk to the breeder when you get your pigs and see what they would suggest.  We switched breeders a couple years ago and our original breeder was a small operation and they were very diligent about worming their stock so we never really wormed, or needed to more than once from March to July.  The breeder we use now is a much bigger operation and they seem to have more trouble with it, so we try and worm the pigs we get from them about every 30-45 days.  If you have a pig you can give an injection to use an injectable (look at your local farm supply store and use something that will take care of mange also).  If you can't give them an injection use permethrin and dilute according to the directions. 

We have concrete pens and we use shavings.  It seems to work well for us.  We typically use 4"-6" of shavings. 

We always feed at least two and when we first bring them home we always pen them together.  When they get larger we separate them, but they are still in the same area and can still see each other.  We have a scale so we know what we are weighing and that is typically the deciding factor as to when to separate them.  I hope this helps. 
 

justjohn

Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2011
Messages
5
Checking with the breeder is a great idea, then bounce that off a vet.  Circo virus and erysipilis are probably the 2 biggest problems with show pigs.  There are great vaccines for both, usually not necessary if the breeder vaccinated the sows.  We worm with safeguard in the feed about 30 days after we get the pigs, then use ivomec 3 weeks before any show we take them to.   

We bed with wood chips or wheat straw.  We have concrete pens, and we really don't clean them all the way out very often.  The pigs will use one corner as a bathroom, that we clean every other day.  The rest of the pen we just keep adding bedding so it gets deep to add cushion for feet and legs.  We don't have any automatic water in the pen, we water by hand with a small bucket 3 times a day and feed wet feed twice or three times daily.  This keeps the pen drier and less dusty.

We feed them together untill weight or body type makes us change.  Separate pens, but not always so they can see each other.  Pigs are social enough, but can do fine without a buddy.  We have found that they will show better if they don't have a pen buddy to miss when they have to go to the show ring.
 

willow

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Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
308
JustJohn, that is a really good point about missing a pen mate.  We always take ours out for a walk or whatever separately even if they are penned together.  It teaches them to be independent.
 
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