RED DEER – No-repeat workdays aren’t just for radio stations; they’re also finding their way into hog barns.
In the past, producers have had few options when treating respiratory disease in pigs: either add antibiotics to water or feed or perform repeated injections.
Now a new triamilide antibiotic is available that gives producers a one-shot dose that is effective against respiratory infections.
“These infections spread so fast,” said Chris Misutka of Prairie Swine Health Services in Red Deer.
“This product is highly effective at controlling them.”
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Misutka’s veterinary practice treats about 30,000 sows and has been using Draxxin, a new product from Pfizer Animal Health that made its debut in Canada last year to treat calves entering feedlots.
“We’ve been using it in the past year and it really works well,” Misutka said.
The drug eliminates the need to add antibiotics to feed, which Misutka said is an inefficient way to administer antibiotics because producers rarely have empty feed bins ready to mix in the antibiotics.
“They want to wait until they fill or if they add (the drugs) before that, it’s hard to ensure a proper mixing. Animals get subclinical doses. Either way treatment is less effective than desired and there may be other consequences,” he said.
“And when animals are sick they go off their feed. It’s hard to get the required dose into them if they don’t eat and drink.”
Draxxin’s persistence is one of its selling features. The intramuscularly injected drug has an eight day withdrawal period and 35 day injection site meat trimming period.
So far the only side effect Misutka has seen is the sticker shock that affects producers.
“When they first hear it’s $3 per 40 (kilograms of pig) they take a step back,” he said.
“Then they find out it’s only one shot and if you look at your labour cost works out to the same cost as other (methods of controlling respiratory infections).”
