Pigs - Raising Small Animals - page 209

• If the pigs are being stressed in some other way
Part of your daily care of your pigs should include observing them to make sure they are in
good health. You often can do this when your pigs are eating. If there is a pig that is not
hungry or that stands by itself or if there is a pig that is listless or that seems different from the
day before, notice it, and take it seriously. It is highly unusual for a pig to miss a meal. Pigs
are social animals, and if a pig is by itself, something may be wrong. Pigs should not be list-
less or uninvolved in the things going on. The more you watch your herd, the more you will
get a good feel for how your pigs behave when they are healthy and feeling good, and the
sooner you will recognize when something is wrong with them.
Your pig supplies should include a basic first aid kit for your pigs. This kit should contain
many of the same items that you would include in a first aid kit for your family, such as triple
antibiotic ointment, iodine, alcohol, styptic powder, bismuth subsalicylate, and similar treat-
ments. It should also contain a rectal thermometer. You can use a rectal thermometer to take
your pig's temperature if you are concerned that the pig may have a fever. The normal temper-
ature for a pig is 102.5 and anything over 103 degrees can be considered a fever. If your pig
does have a fever, it can help you identify if your pig is ill and which disease it may have.
Diarrhea or scours is a frequent symptom of diseases in pigs. If your pig has diarrhea, it may
become dangerous quickly, particularly to young animals because they can become dehyd-
rated. You can add electrolytes to your pig's water and encourage it to drink to help it. You
can purchase powdered electrolytes to mix in your pig's water, or you can purchase a sub-
stance such as Pedialyte ® liquid. Try to get your pig to drink enough to replace the fluids it
has lost, which may be quite a lot of fluid. In a pinch, you can use sports energy drinks with
electrolytes. Try to quickly determine what is causing your pig's diarrhea, and call your veter-
inarian for help in case it is something serious.
Diseases
Here are some of the most common pig diseases and their symptoms:
Atrophic rhinitis: Atrophic rhinitis is an illness that infects young pigs and leads to physical
deformity. The cause is presumed to be germs that enter the mucus membranes of the nose.
Nose to nose contact infects one animal to another, until the entire litter is sick. Symptoms
usually do not show up until piglets are 3 weeks old. There is usually no fever, but the pigs
have sneezing and a discharge from the eyes, along with inflamed mucous membranes. The