Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Long, intense labor will stress a newborn. The extent is unclear until the birthing process is
complete. If the pig is not breathing, open the mouth and clear out any mucus that might be
clogging the airway using your fingers. Remove any remaining sack membrane covering the
baby pig, and gently pull them up by the back legs. Swing them slowly between your legs in a
pendulum motion. This will drain any remaining mucous and fluid. Clear the nose and throat
once again to allow air passage. Closely monitor any pigs that have a hard time breathing ini-
tially, as they are susceptible to pneumonia. Keeping them warm and dry will assist in their
full recovery.
Anemia
Anemia is another condition that may affect a piglet's ability to breathe. A main ingredient of
red blood cells is a protein called hemoglobin. It is charged with the duty of carrying oxygen-
rich blood to the cells and bringing carbon dioxide back to the lungs to be expelled. Iron is a
critical part of the composition of hemoglobin. A dietary and environmental lack of iron
causes serious and potentially fatal problems.
Anemia due to acute iron deficiency is capable of causing fatal breathing difficulties in young
pigs. Baby pigs grow at an astounding rate. The faster a piglet with anemia grows, the more
at-risk it becomes. Labored breathing or diaphragm spasms called thumps are indicative of
serious anemia in pigs.
A natural fix would seem to be to add iron to the diet of the sow. Unfortunately, this does not
work. Iron deficiencies have to be resolved within the individual pigs. This is not a hard task
with small farms, but it could be a real problem in larger sow operations. It will make your
choice of housing and containment that much more important.
Orally administering iron can be effective, but this is time-consuming and hit-or-miss. Com-
mon methods include applying an iron paste to the sow's udders, weekly doses of iron pills, or
soil added to the creep floor, though soil should be completely free of any swine parasites and
eggs.
Iron injections offer more than enough protection against anemia if given in the proper form
and manner. Iron-dextran or iron-dextrin complex is the best form on the market to date to
treat iron deficiency anemia. The recommended dosage is one injection of 100 milligrams for
pigs weaning at 3 weeks and 150 milligrams for those being weaned after 3 weeks. The shots
