Q Ask the VMD Leon Riegel A reader asks: 1 recently learned of a practice of feeding manure from the pig nursery to gestating sows. This practice was supposed to build immunity in future litters. Do you recommend this practice? Arc there any drawbacks? Dr. Trayer comments: 1 personally cannot think of a valid reason of feeding fecal material from pigs’ nursery to TOX-O-WHC ■r*h<fa?na6c<3; WMMTt I I INSECTICIDE : I^PPL^ftS • Complete Sales and Service • Parts In Stock ELMER MARTIN EDWIN HOOVER RD2, MYERSTOWN. PA 717-949-2081 Low pressure Corner System MW VALLEY AG RAIN, INC. Water Winch Water Reel DEUTZ Diesel powered irrigation pumps gestatingsows. My definition of nursery is a group of pigs weaned from the sow, ranging in weight from 15 pounds to 40 or 50 pounds. The practice of feeding manure from the pig nurseries to the gestatmg sows would not develop any different immunity than that which the young pigs have already been exposed to. And when the weaned sows are returned to the LANC CO RD 1, EPHRATA. PA 717-733-8313 t Water Drive Automatic irrigation systems save labor. Save water. Boost yields. OPEN HOUSE TimTrayer Dr. Maas gestatmg areas, they too would be exposing the gestatmg sows to anything the young pigs would have carried into the nursery. It has been recommended in the past to practice feeding fecal material from the farrowing room to the gestatmg sows or to new gilts brought into the operation when disease is a problem. The practice of exposing the next farrowing group to farrowing room **€ QUICK ATTACH * SIDE MOUNT FRAME Now you can remove your tanks and saddles quickly and easily while allowing the center section to remain on your tractor giving better vision and clearance while doing other chores. ★ Available With TRIM-LINE tanks Lancaster County's Only Dealer Specializing in Sprayer Sales & Service LESTER A. SINGER RONKS, PA PH: (717) 687-6712 Eves. & Sats. (717) 687-7116 Electric MARCH 9,1981 io a.m. toap.M. AT THE FROG ROCK INN So. White Horse Pike, Hammonton, NJ Open Bar & Buffet Served AQUA FLO, INC. Box 454 320 Basin Road Hammonton, NJ 609-561-1777 Edgar Sheaffer £*■•-» vrv,; Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 21,1981—0il bacteria or viruses is recom* mended only if the operation is not an all-in, all-out farrowing, where the farrowing room is completely disinfected and fumigated. In a continual farrowing process, which doesn’t allow substantial clean-up, there will be a bacteria and virus build up specific for the farrowing room. Gestating sows should be brought in and exposed to these ‘new’ viruses and bacteria in the farrowing room a week to ten days before farrowing By eatmg the fecal material, they will be building an immunity for future litters. I don’t advocate this method of contmous farrowing. But if it is what the producer is involved in, this is the only situation where feeding manure from previous farrowing groups may help reduce disease. It is only a matter of tune, however, until there is such a high level of bacterial growth that in creased farrowing problems - sows off feed, lack of milk, ab normal vaginal and uterine discharges, increased death and illness in baby pigs will be ex perienced. This is, of course, an unsatisfactory situation. Feeding manure from the farrowing room to the rest of the breeding stock also was practiced in the past when there was an outbreak of TGE, transmissible gastro enteritis. This disease process has a mortality ap proaching 100 percent of all pigs less than two weeks of age. And basically all stock on the farm, when exposed to the virus, get sick. The primary symptom is vomiting. The idea behind feeding manure when TGE was suspected was to build up immunity to the disease. The best way of building immunity it was discovered was to grind up intestinal tracts of baby pigs and Rainger Linear Move DEALER -feed them to -the .rest of the breeding stock. I repeat, this was practiced in the past. Now that we understand the disease process better, we realize the safer, more effective method of instilling immunity is to incorporate a vaccination program. This has. become available within the past year under federal license. The vaccination product uses two doses of oral vaccine, followed by one intramuscular vaccination of the sow. The whole idea is to develop a gut level and blood level of immunity. This has proven effective and much better than previous vaccination programs on TGE. In the past, feeding programs involving the live, active virus, actually prolonged the disease. A chrome TGE problem, which is difficult to identify, then breaks out in continual farrowing operations. It may only present itself as a single litter loss m a group of farrowmgs and becomes a diagnostic challenge. Several drawbacks of feeding from the pig nurseries back to the gestatmg sows follow: There is extra work created for the producer who decides to carry the manure. If the nurseries are expenencmg illnesses, such as intestinal bac terial infection or dysentary, this would be transferred into breeding stock and could create multiple problems abortions, etc. It is not uncommon for breeding stock, once exposed to these diseases, to become chronically infected. The sows infect their young and don’t pass along an effective immunity without showing clinical signs of infection themselves. Overall, I would not recommend this practice unless there is something specifically indicated on the farm. eZ»Tbw VALLEY
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