What medicine is best for piglet diarrhea? Plus feeding and management techniques

Piglets are also called zi zhu, miao zhu, zhu miao, zhu zai, newborn piglets, and pigs that have grown to about 30 kg are all called piglets.So what should be done about diarrhea and loose stools in piglets (small pigs)? What medicine is best? What are the feeding and management techniques?

What should be done about diarrhea and loose stools in piglets (small pigs)?

1. Timely weaning——Piglet weaning cannot be based solely on time; it should be determined according to the piglets' feed intake (generally, weaning at 28 days requires the piglets' cumulative feed intake to reach more than 500 grams per head). Weaning should only be done when the piglets can eat happily;

2. Early feeding attraction——Start attracting them to feed at 7 days of age. Separate the piglets from the sow and feed milk at fixed times, gradually extending the interval between milk feedings to force the piglets to search for food when hungry. For piglets that really will not eat feed, manual assistance should be used (mix creep feed with warm water into a paste and smear it inside the piglet's mouth; generally after 3-5 days of training the piglets can eat feed on their own.);

3. Fresh creep feed——Do not place creep feed inside the pig house. Take only as much as needed, and after taking feed, tie the bag opening tightly. Feed in small amounts and add frequently;

4. Suitable trough position——The creep feed trough should be placed in a place with suitable temperature to prevent piglets from refusing to eat because they are afraid of the cold;

5. Clean trough——The creep feed trough should be

cleaned at least once a day to prevent piglets from eating moldy residue attached to the overnight trough and causing loose stools;

6. Appropriate restricted feeding——If feeding attraction before weaning is poor, appropriate restricted feeding can be adopted for the first 2-3 days after weaning. When restricting feeding, ensure sufficient trough space and feed in small amounts and add frequently.

What medicine is best for diarrhea and loose stools in piglets (small pigs)?

An old saying in our country goes: prescribe the right medicine for the illness. To treat diarrhea and loose stools in piglets, you must first know what is causing it.

1. Viral diseases

The viruses that cause diarrhea are mainly rotavirus and coronavirus, such as transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), and others, as well as astrovirus, enteric adenovirus, small rotavirus, and small reovirus.

2. Bacterial diseases

The main pathogenic bacteria of invasive diarrhea are Salmonella, Pasteurella (mainly Pasteurella multocida), Shigella, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC), and others. The main pathogenic bacteria of non-invasive diarrhea are Vibrio, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC), Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Aeromonas hydrophila, and others. Clinically, symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and tenesmus may be seen.

3. Parasitic diseases

The most important pathogens causing parasitic diarrhea are Entamoeba histolytica and coccidia. Others, including Giardia, Strongyloides stercoralis, Balantidium coli, Trichostrongylus, and Cryptosporidium, can also cause diarrhea in animals. In addition, some parasites parasitic in the intestinal tract, such as Ascaris, whipworm, hookworm, and pinworm, may also cause temporary diarrhea in animals during the infection process.

4. Toxic diseases

The main factors causing poisoning in pigs include arsenic, mercury, organophosphorus, and zinc phosphide. Most animals show vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Arsenic poisoning also shows bloody stools, dilated pupils, and death from heart failure, sometimes with hematuria or proteinuria. Mercury poisoning also shows weakness, swaying, glossitis paralysis, and loss of vision. Organophosphorus poisoning also shows constricted pupils. Zinc phosphide poisoning also shows decreased body temperature, garlic odor in vomit or feces, difficulty breathing, and sensitivity in the chest and abdomen.

Changyijian (UK Kaino) can be used, by intramuscular injection, with one treatment course lasting 2-3 days. In addition to routine prevention and treatment, for severe cases, first give one injection of atropine, then inject “Changyijian”, and orally administer tannalbin + gentamicin.

Appendix: Piglet feeding and management techniques

I. Suckling piglets.

1. Keep warm and prevent crushing.

Keeping warm and preventing crushing is the key to improving the postnatal survival rate of piglets. The piglets' thermoregulatory function begins to improve from 9 days of age and approaches maturity only after 20 days of age. The best method is to set up a piglet warming box in the sow house, with a 250W infrared lamp inside, to create a warm microclimate environment for the piglets. In this way, piglets are less likely to freeze to death, and are also less likely to be crushed to death or injured, while also reducing the chance of diarrhea caused by infection.

2. Drink enough colostrum.

Newborn piglets lack innate immunity, while sow colostrum contains substances such as immunoglobulins, which can enable piglets to obtain passive immunity; colostrum has a high protein content and contains magnesium salts with a laxative effect, which can promote the excretion of meconium; colostrum has relatively high acidity, which can make up for the defects of the underdeveloped digestive tract and imperfect digestive gland function of newborn piglets; various nutrients in colostrum are almost completely absorbed in the small intestine, which helps increase physical strength and resist cold.

3. Fix the teats.

Within 2—3 days after birth, piglets must be manually assisted in fixing on teats. Keepers should observe carefully, and once piglets are found competing for the same teat, timely intervention should be carried out.

4. Supplement iron and selenium.

Iron deficiency in piglets will affect their own blood production. Newborn piglets have very little iron reserve in the body, and the amount they can obtain from breast milk is also limited. Therefore, piglets must be supplemented with iron and selenium.

5. Teeth clipping and tail docking.

Tail docking is usually done on the first day after birth to prevent mutual tail biting. Generally, an electric cautery iron or electric tail-cutting pliers can be used to cut off the last 3 caudal vertebrae, and medicine should be applied to prevent infection.

6. Supplement water and feed.

Generally, feeding attraction starts at 5 to 7 days of age, using creep feed troughs, no fewer than six times a day. Mix complete pellet feed with water into a paste and smear it in the piglets' mouths, so that after becoming used to it the piglets will eat on their own during the creep feeding period.

7. Maintain a clean, ventilated, and dry pig house environment, which can reduce the survival chances of bacteria and thereby reduce the occurrence of disease, keeping pigs healthy.

II. Feeding and management of weaned piglets.

1. Feeding of weaned piglets. The key to feeding weaned piglets is making a good transition from breast milk to feed.

This transition process means that within two weeks of weaning, the feed should remain unchanged (still feeding the suckling-period pellet feed), and appropriate amounts of antibiotics, vitamins, and amino acids should be added to reduce stress reactions. After two weeks, gradually transition to weaned piglet feed, and gradually transition to a feeding method suitable for the piglet nursery house.

2. Management of weaned piglets.

(1) Environmental conditions for weaned piglets:

① Temperature: The suitable environmental temperature for weaned piglets is: 21℃-22℃ for 30-40 days of age, 21℃ for 41-60 days of age, and 20℃ for 60-70 days of age. In order to maintain the above temperatures, insulation measures should be taken in winter. In addition to paying attention to windproofing and insulation of the housing and increasing the stocking density in the house to maintain house temperature, heating equipment is best installed. In hot summer, heat prevention and cooling measures are needed, and cooling methods such as spraying, showering, and ventilation can be adopted. In recent years, many pig houses have adopted longitudinal ventilation cooling with good results.

② Humidity: Excessive humidity in the piglet-rearing house can increase the adverse effects of cold and heat on pigs. Dampness is conducive to the breeding and reproduction of pathogenic microorganisms and can cause various diseases in piglets. The suitable relative humidity for weaned piglet houses is 65%-75%.

③ Cleaning and hygiene: The pig house should be cleaned frequently and disinfected regularly to kill pathogens and prevent infectious diseases.

④ Keep the air fresh: Harmful gases in the air of the pig house have long-term, continuous, and cumulative toxic effects on pigs. Timely remove and treat organic matter such as manure and urine, reduce the production of harmful gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, control the ventilation volume, remove foul air in the house, and keep the air fresh.

3. Training and management.

Train and manage weaned piglets in the three fixed locations of eating, sleeping, and excreting. Newly regrouped weaned piglets have not yet formed fixed locations for eating, lying down, drinking, and excreting, so training should be strengthened to help them form ideal sleeping and excretion areas. This can not only maintain hygiene in the pen but also facilitate cleaning. The piglet nursery pen is best rectangular to facilitate training and zoning. Set an automatic feeder at one end of the middle walkway and an automatic drinker at the other end. The side near the feeder is the sleeping area, and the other side is the excretion area.

4. Set up iron ring toys.

Newly weaned piglets often show tail biting, ear sucking, prepuce sucking, and other phenomena. The main reason is that newly weaned piglets attempt to continue suckling. Of course, it can also be caused by incomplete feed nutrition, excessive stocking density, and poor ventilation stress. The way to prevent it is to improve feeding and management conditions while also setting up toys for the piglets to distract them. Toys include toy balls placed in the pen and iron chains suspended in the air for practice. Balls are easily dirtied and unhygienic, so it is best to hang two iron chains made of connected iron rings in each pen, at a height such that the piglets can bite them when raising their heads. This can not only prevent the occurrence of bad habits such as tail biting in piglets, but also satisfy the piglets' need to be active and play.

5. Drug health care.

Tiamulin 100ppm, amoxicillin 200ppm,, chlortetracycline 300ppm. After piglets are put into the pen and before they are removed from the pen, use continuously for one week each time, which can prevent respiratory diseases.

6. Preventive injection. Piglets should be injected with vaccines such as piglet paratyphoid, swine fever, and type 5 vaccine according to the epidemic prevention program, and internal and external parasites should be dewormed before regrouping.