Hog producers should be making a list and checking it twice to ensure their animals are free of drug residues and broken needles when they leave the farm.
How a pig is fed, watered and vaccinated can affect the reputation of Canadian pork, both at home and abroad.
“The last thing anyone would want to do is bite into a needle,” says Brian Cotton, a swine specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. “I suspect it would turn me off and it would turn anybody else off if that happened.”
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Most prevention tips are common sense.
Replace needles that are bent, advised Dawn LeBlanc, who oversees delivery of the Canadian Quality Assurance program in Alberta. Also, consider spending extra money to buy good quality needles.
Approach the pig quietly but not sneakily and try to calm the animal before giving the needle. When learning how to give vaccinations, it’s best to work with smaller pigs before attempting to give needles to full-grown sows, LeBlanc said.
Producers can buy a flexible tube that fits between the syringe and the needle. While curbing the risk of a broken needle, the tube can help prevent tearing the pig’s flesh if it tries to bolt away.
It is recommended that needles be given in the neck rather than the rump of the pig. That prevents damage to an area of the animal that often gets turned into ham.
If a needle does break off inside a pig’s hide, there are two options. One is to consult a veterinarian about getting the needle removed. If the needle is not removed, the producer should be sure the animal can be tracked once it leaves the farm through an ear tag or an ear notch. When the pig gets shipped, be sure the information about the broken needle gets conveyed to the packing plant. LeBlanc said the pig carrying the needle will be processed separately and its meat usually gets ground up.
The hog industry also strives to keep pork tainted with drug residues from reaching store shelves. Much of that responsibility is in producers’ hands.
It is important to keep records of medications given to animals and to note the withdrawal times. The Canadian Pork Council has a notebook that details withdrawal times, which can vary from a few days up to a month.
When using medicated feed, several precautions are in order. Keep pens well maintained to keep pigs that are not receiving medicated feed from getting into pens where that feed is available.
The pens should also be designed to keep the manure and urine from pigs on medicated feed or water from reaching other pens. Pigs that are not on medicated feed may consume the manure and urine, resulting in drug residues, said LeBlanc.
When medicated feed is stored on-farm, make sure the bin, the delivery tubes and the auger pipes are marked.
Producers who mix their feed on the farm should take steps to ensure it is mixed properly. Several things should be considered, such as equipment design, mill calibration, the order that ingredients are added, mixing times and the feed mixing sequence.
Keeping records is a good idea.
And, says the Canadian Pork Council, producers are encouraged to review whether the medicated feed is necessary.
The council has a producer manual that carries product names and ingredients. It’s a reference point for deciding whether feed medications are used properly at approved levels.
Feed medications, especially sulphamethazine, are the most frequent cause of drug residues in market hogs.
It is wise to give careful thought to how medicated water is dispensed. One option is to mix the medicated water in buckets and deliver it directly to the pens where it is needed.
If medicated water is delivered through a piping system, use a separate water line. The calibration of dispensers, the placement and adjustment of water valves, and the flushing of water lines all need to be monitored.
