An animal health expert says going through the motions when vaccinating hogs fails both the animals and the farm’s bottom line.
“If you are going to go to the expense and labour time of vaccination against disease, doing it wrong costs you twice,” Ed Doornenbal of Wyeth Animal Health told producers at a recent Saskatchewan pork industry conference.
He said barn managers shouldn’t assume that their employees fully understand vaccination procedures.
“Vaccines will not be effective or useful to the pig if they are not administered properly, in the right place, with the correct length of needle.”
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Needle barrels need to be appropriate for the viscosity and volume of the product being administered and their length must correctly match the size of the animal. A 12.5 millimetre needle may be appropriate for an intramuscular injection in baby pigs but useless in a mature sow.
Getting intramuscular injections into muscle rather than fat is critical to make them effective, said Doornenbal.
Injections must be made into the neck rather than other parts of the body where valuable meat cuts may be damaged.
Improper storage of vaccines and application temperatures can seriously limit their usefulness.
“Barn managers need to be careful to read all of the literature the drug manufacturer supplies and not assume similar products are to be handled in similar ways,” he said.
Timing can also limit effectiveness.
“Many have booster requirements. Some vaccines are given to the gestating sow to pass on white blood cells and maternal antibodies through her colostrums.”
Sows start preparing colostrum four to five weeks before farrowing. With some vaccines, administering them two weeks before farrowing is too late to maximize their effectiveness.
“(Bacterial) boosters should not be given before 14 days has passed from the initial dose,” he said.
“Vaccines containing viral antigens shouldn’t be given more than six weeks apart.”
For vaccines to be effective, animals should be treated three to four weeks before they come into contact with the disease.
“Pigs have a complex immune system, but vaccines can help to manipulate it and avoid serious consequences of barn-wide infections.”
