injection

pig1 · #1 04/02/13, 07:19 PM

I have a very feisty red sow i need to worm . I have given her in feed wormer but i would like to give her the good stuff this time. I have read about being fast with giving shots and all that stuff but putting 10cc of wormer in sow does take alittle time. Any suggestions .

pig1 · #2 04/03/13, 07:53 AM

That should've been 5cc not 10cc.

agmantoo · #3 04/03/13, 08:39 AM

I like this item to retain a hog. http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.h...s=pig%20holder

slip this over the jaw and tie the handle to a post and the animal will simply back up and restrain against the tool. This will enable you to attend to whatever.

haypoint · #4 04/03/13, 12:39 PM

Always good to have a way to restrain any livestock you have. Even better to have them familiar to being restrained.
What is the "good stuff"? that is only effective as an injection? I always thought ivermectin was the "good stuff" it is available as a paste or an injection. You can take the injectable stuff and squirt it into a mouth or ball up a gob of stale bread and squirt the liquid in that and feed to the pig. I always avoid poking a meat animal with a needle if I can.

pig1 · #5 04/03/13, 12:51 PM

My sow is about 450lbs and yeah what im calling the "good stuff" is ivemectin. I didnt think you can give it oraly to pigs. I have a coral shoot built but she fights tooth and nail if forced in there. Im mostly by myself. Im gona have to find some help.

haypoint · #6 04/03/13, 01:16 PM

Ivermectin is absorbable through the skin. For cattle it is available as a pour on. But you waste part of it, the portion that gets rubbed off, washed off or remains in the hair and dead skin. But they can absorb most of it by ingestion, instead of injection. I'd get her hungry, feed the ivermectin and wait an hour or two, so it can fully absorb in her stomach. Then feed her as normal.
Feel free to ask a Vet you trust.

pig1 · #7 04/03/13, 02:33 PM

Thanks haypoint. Im gona do that.

**highlands** · #8 04/03/13, 05:56 PM

You could give it as two smaller 2.5cc injections as those are easy to give very fast even with a regular hypodermic needle.

Alternatively get this injector:

http://www.jefferspet.com/allflex-vo.../LIV/cp/16102/

Using that I can give 5cc injections each to 400 pigs faster than three people can paint and count them following behind me out on open pasture without any restraints needed. I'm done long before the pig even knows what happened.

Cheers,

-Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/

**highlands** · #9 04/03/13, 06:06 PM

Dup. Deleted.

pig1 · #10 04/03/13, 07:14 PM

What size needle would you recommend highland?

**highlands** · #11 04/03/13, 08:06 PM

It depends on which type of injection I'm doing, sub-cut (1/2") or int-musc. I like the shortest needle possible and thicker for the big animals. For piglets I go with the finest needles and shorter. I use the stainless steel needles which I get from Jeffers - same link as above.

One thing to note is the needle length is going to vary with the fat layer on your pig. We pasture and our pigs are thus fairly lean - they don't have the deep back fat I see on grain fed hogs, this affects the depth all over, not just on the back. So if you're grain feeding you might want a longer needle than I use above.

pig1 · #12 04/03/13, 08:57 PM

Highland when you come up on your pig to inject which side of the neck do you stick from where your standing?

paddler · #13 04/04/13, 12:11 PM

i was wondering about a hypodermic jab stick? i am a biologist and we use one to knock out trapped wolves, bears, and bobcats. its about three feet long and designed to inject very quickly into a moving (and usually dangerous) animal. any reason that this wouldnt work to worm hogs? what muscle do you shoot for?

i am in a similar position, i have injectible ivermectin and was wondering how to go about giving it to my 325lb sows. but, its good to know that it can be ingested with the same affect. maybe thats just the easiest way to do it.

**highlands** · #14 04/04/13, 12:35 PM

The side I am on. It is an ATT move - reach out and touch someone.

Very fast. I don't squeeze my hand but rather press it forward to inject.

I also do biopsies like this, a quick move. I've considered and tested using squeeze chutes. In our situation out on pasture with multiple herds it isn't feasible right now - it would take a lot of infrastructure in multiple locations.

Paddler, I think the stick would work fine. I do sows and boars that are far larger than that but they are used to me walking up to them, not like a bear.

pig1 · #15 04/04/13, 01:47 PM

ATT move lol! I like that. I would like to see it in action. Do you have anything like that on your blog highland? I can see how the design of the syringe your talking about would work.

farmergirl · #16 04/04/13, 09:43 PM

Just use the ivermectin horse paste dewormer. The weight increments are marked on the side of the syringe. Follow the same dosing as it says for horses. Squeeze paste onto a slice of bread, fold in half, feed to sow. Easy peasy. Worked for us for years.

**highlands** · #17 04/05/13, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pig1

ATT move lol! I like that. I would like to see it in action. Do you have anything like that on your blog highland? I can see how the design of the syringe your talking about would work.

No video or photos. When we're doing vaccinations we're all moving too fast and busy to have fun with the camera too.

Plantman · #18 04/28/13, 10:33 PM

How often do you worm pigs?

haypoint · #19 04/28/13, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plantman

How often do you worm pigs?

Twice a year, spring and fall.

**highlands** · #20 04/29/13, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plantman

How often do you (de)worm pigs?

Rarely. If I see a problem pig that is looking like it is having trouble I might worm it. Maybe once a year or twice I'll worm the whole herd. But don't use that as a hard guide because it is going to vary both over time, with different genetics, climate, management and feeds.

A vet I talked with suggested that every six months (fall and spring) was a good strategy in our climate. In warmer climates parasite loads are generally more of a problem so more often might be advised.

Managed rotational grazing, the copper in our soils and winter break parasite cycles very well. The whey we feed is said to make their guts less hospitable to parasites. Healthy animals can have a small parasite load and it won't hurt them. If they become stressed though for other reasons then they can develop a problem.

One reason I like to avoid the cides that they side kill helpful invertebrates in the soil. Minimizing chemical dewormers results in healthier pasture soils. When raising in pens and confinement this is not such an issue.

One solution is to kill off all parasites feasible through regular use of dewormers. An alternative solution is to maintain the livestock's health at as high a level as possible and leave parasites behind (managed rotational grazing) to break the parasite cycles. These methods can even be combined over time.

There are other things to inject like vaccines - that's usually what I'm doing when I'm injecting.