Common Vitamin Deficiency Symptoms and Treatments in Pigs

Vitamin A deficiency

Main symptoms: When pigs lack vitamin A, they often show inflamed eyes, cloudy corneas, dry and withered ear tips, poor appetite, dull coat color, weight loss, and bumping around blindly at dusk; pregnant sows may show miscarriage symptoms, and newborn piglets are difficult to keep alive.

Treatment: Promptly add 5-10 ml of livestock cod liver oil to the feed. In severe cases, inject 5 ml of vitamin AD injection, once every 5 days. Increase feeding of green, juicy feed or carrots.

Vitamin B1 deficiency

Main symptoms: Sick pigs lose weight, have rough and dull hair, dry skin, reduced appetite, some vomit, constipation is common in the early stage with small pellets like sheep dung, and later it often turns into diarrhea. Lameness in one or more limbs, stiff gait, lack of flexibility, difficulty standing, trembling and shivering. No pain on palpation, slow response to stimuli. Listless, fond of lying down, appears fatigued. Some have paroxysmal spasms, some fall down and convulse, with limbs paddling like swimming. Body temperature changes little. Onset is slow, and the course is long, mostly more than 7-10 days.

Treatment: Feed a complete mixed daily ration that meets its nutritional needs, and pay attention to combining fine rice bran, wheat bran, beans, green vegetables, green grass and other feeds rich in vitamin B1, which can prevent the occurrence of this disease and further promote healthy and rapid growth and development of pigs. If pigs have already developed this disease, on the one hand, stop feeding the original feed and switch to a complete mixed feed rich in vitamin B1; on the other hand, inject vitamin B1 injection intramuscularly, with a dose of 250-600 mg for pigs under 50 kg, 2 times/day, for 3-5 consecutive days.

Vitamin C deficiency

Main symptoms: Oral mucosal bleeding and ulcers, loose teeth that fall out easily, anemia, dull coat color, and weak disease resistance.

Treatment: Add 0.5 g of vitamin C to the feed daily. For severe cases, inject 0.3-0.4 g of vitamin C injection daily until recovery.

Vitamin D deficiency

Main symptoms: Fond of eating filth, poor appetite; piglets may also show abnormal limb posture and poor development.

Treatment: Supplement calcium and phosphorus in the feed (ratio 1:2), and increase lighting in the pig house. For severe cases, inject 5 ml of vitamin AD injection or 2 ml of vitamin D3 colloidal calcium every 4-5 days.

Vitamin E deficiency

Main symptoms: When lacking vitamin E, the survival rate of piglets is low, sows are less likely to conceive and prone to miscarriage, and boars have low semen quality, weak libido, and movement incoordination.

Treatment: Add a certain amount of soybean cake, rapeseed cake, wheat bran, alfalfa and green feed to the feed. Inject 0.3-0.5 g of vitamin E injection intramuscularly every 2-3 days.