What are the key technical points of pig health inspection?
At present, pig @#@227@#@ in China is still dominated by smallholder backyard farming. However, because most pig raisers lack scientific pig-farming knowledge and concepts, the level of technology in production and management - including pig breeds, feed formulation, feeding management and disease prevention and control - is very low. Pig production has long suffered from problems such as slow weight gain, low feed conversion efficiency, low profitability and even losses. Keepers and veterinary technicians should patrol and observe the health of the herd every day and deal with any problem promptly. To properly check whether a pig herd is healthy, the following technical points generally need to be mastered:
1 Checking the pig's body parts
1.1 Skin. A healthy pig's skin is clean, its coat color is glossy and the skin is elastic. If the skin surface is swollen, ulcerated or covered with small nodules, or if red patches appear in many places, especially pinhead-sized bleeding points that do not fade when pressed, the pig is diseased.
1.2 Nose pad. A healthy pig's nose pad is moist and clean; a sick pig's nose pad is dry and cracked, with more turbid mucus attached.
1.3 Ears. A healthy pig's ears react nimbly to outside sounds, and the base of the ear feels smooth and moist to the touch; a sick pig's ear base is hot or cold, and the ears are not nimble.
1.4 Anus. A sick pig's anus is unclean and heavily soiled with thin manure, which is a sign of disease.
1.5 Tail. A healthy pig's tail curls up and swings from side to side; any pig whose tail hangs down or does not move is diseased.
2 Checking the pig's mental state
2.1 Spirit. Before each feeding, first look at the pig's spirit. If the pig is listless, its eyes are dull, it has eye discharge, or it often lies in the corner of the wall, lags behind when walking and sways, these are all signs of disease.
2.2 Breathing. A healthy pig breathes evenly, with a normal respiratory rate of 10-20 breaths/min, and a normal pulse rate of 60-80 beats/min; in pig diseases such as colds with fever, poisoning and infectious diseases, breathing becomes faster or breathing difficulties occur.
2.3 Vocalization. A healthy pig's squeal is clear and crisp; a sick pig's squeal is hoarse and mournful.
3 Checking the pig's physiological digestion status and growth and development
3.1 Appetite. A healthy pig has a strong appetite and eats a lot quickly; normally, the usual feed intake can be finished within 10-15 minutes; if the pig does not respond or responds slowly at feeding time, that is, it eats little or nothing, this is a sign of disease.
3.2 Drinking water. A healthy pig generally drinks water regularly after eating; irregular drinking, excessive water intake or no drinking at all is a sign of disease.
3.3 Whether it eats abnormal items. If a pig often gnaws soil, charcoal, the pen floor, fences and so on, it is diseased.
3.4 Manure. When feeding the pigs, check their manure; a healthy pig's manure is soft and clumped; if the manure is thin, or dry and hard like a string of beads, abnormal in color or foul-smelling, the pig is diseased.
3.5 Urine. A healthy pig's urine is transparent and clear; if it is turbid and not transparent, the pig is diseased.
3.6 Body temperature. A pig's normal body temperature range is 38°C-40°C; anything higher or lower is abnormal.
3.7 Growth and development. During rearing, about every 30 days, select 3%-5% of representative pigs of moderate weight from the herd, weigh and calculate, check whether the weight gain of the meat pigs has reached the expected target, and then take corresponding measures.
4 Checking the pig's nutritional status and the environmental conditions it lives in
4.1 Nutritional status of the herd. If the average daily weight gain of the herd is generally low, this indicates that the nutritional level is low, and nutrition must be strengthened to improve the pigs' constitution.
4.2 Stocking density of the herd. If the stocking density of the herd is too high, it directly affects the pigs' growth, development and health; if the stocking density is too low, the utilization rate of the pen is reduced and waste is caused. Generally, fattening pigs are kept in groups of 10-25, and the bed area occupied by each pig should preferably be 0.8-1.0 sq m.
4.3 Temperature of the pig house. If the temperature of the pig house is too high or too low, it is unfavorable to the pigs' growth and development. When the temperature is suitable, pigs show a strong appetite, stretch out their limbs, sleep quietly, and gain weight quickly with high feed returns. The suitable temperature for meat pigs is 15°C-23°C.
4.4 Smell of the pig farm. Manure accumulated over a long period in pig pens and drainage ditches easily ferments and gives off an odor that irritates the nose and eyes, affecting the pigs' appetite and growth and development, so it must be cleaned and disinfected promptly.
4.5 Pen equipment. Check whether the pig house leaks rain in summer and leaks wind in winter, and whether equipment such as pig pens, pig beds, feed troughs and water pipes is in good working order, and deal with any problem promptly.
In short, the factors restricting the rapid and sustainable development of China's pig industry are many-sided, and among them the poor quality of the rearing workforce, the imperfect technical service system and the poor awareness of epidemic prevention and hygiene occupy an important place. If pig raisers persist in implementing the principle of "prevention first" and carry out strict prevention, timely and correct diagnosis and careful and effective treatment of all infectious diseases, parasitic diseases and nutritional and metabolic diseases that affect pig health, then modern veterinary science and technology can completely bring the epidemic diseases of pig farms under control.