How is the severity of parasite infection in pigs determined?
How do you determine whether your pigs' parasite infection is severe?
To determine whether parasite infection in a pig farm and the deworming effect are ideal, the scratching index method and the saturated salt water flotation method are generally used.
⟧ I. Scratching index method. Used to detect the degree of Sarcoptes scabiei infestation on the body surface and to test the effect of killing Sarcoptes scabiei.
The scratching index method means observing a group of pigs at rest (no fewer than 30 head), and dividing the total number of scratches within 15 minutes by the number of pigs observed. (That is, for 30 pigs, the total number of scratches within 15 minutes divided by 30 is the scratching index.)
1. Severe infection: scratching index greater than 0.4.
2. Moderate infection: scratching index 0.1—0.4.
3. Mild infection: scratching index less than 0.1.
Note: If the scratching index drops significantly 7 days after the pig farm uses deworming drugs, it proves that the deworming effect is obvious.
II. Saturated salt water flotation method, used to detect the degree of infection by internal parasites such as Ascaris, thorny-headed worms, oesophagostomum nematodes, lungworms, and pig kidney worms, and to test the deworming effect.
1. Severe infection: the number of eggs in one gram of pig feces is greater than 5000.
2. Moderate infection: the number of eggs in one gram of pig feces is 500—5000.
3. Mild infection: the number of eggs in one gram of pig feces is less than 500.
Whether internal parasites or external parasites, deworming must be carried out for moderate infection or above.
Note: Before the pig farm uses deworming drugs, if the detected egg count exceeds 500 per gram, and after using deworming drugs no adult worms are seen passed, and on re-testing the eggs the count drops significantly, it proves that the deworming is effective.