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Post by karencole on Dec 1, 2014 22:21:19 GMT
Ok Iam out of my rehlm here other than you can raise a fine pig on corn, soybeans and goat milk. We bought 3 pigs at about 5 weeks old...maybe 4, way sooner than we wanted but have bought from the people before, they looked healthy, pigs were hard to find and I had plenty of goat milk. So fast forward to about 2 weeks ago, 1 pig got stiff in the back end we didn't think much of it they had played in the waterer and flooded the stall!! TALK ABOUT A MESS!!!!!!!! It's cold so we figured the pig maybe slipped, got cold, got shoved, got something , no big deal we took the water trough out and cleaned the pen and bought a smaller water trough for them. The pig continued to falter, gait got stiffer, seemed to loose muscle control but was eating/drinking and could walk if we stood him up. Again thought he needed to rest and might recover, well it's not going to happen, pig can no longer stand even with help, will not pull himself to the food or water but will if we get it close to him. Had planned on putting pig down but me being in the hospital and then not being able to do much really put a damper on things. Iam doing better, it was decided that when Andy got home we'd put him down, he's home, pig has lost muscle mass from not moving but is still eating and drinking we did not put him down yet ..this is why
2nd pig presented with the same symptoms!!! We decided we better talk to a vet about the pigs I do have a call in and am waiting for a return call. It's either been just a week or just short of a week and now 2nd pig cannot stand on his own. Paralisis seems to be limited to the hind end, I've done an amount of reading and everything points to Teschens Disease, sometimes they recover most of the time they do not. It's our thought these two will not, the only upside is if that's the problem it's not transmittable to people and they are small enough we can process them ourselves. Iam waiting to find out if it's a reportable disease it is in some countries, basically it's an entro virus that pigs carry however if they do not get enough colostrum the virus takes off once weaned and the antibodies are out of their system, which was about 3 weeks ago! from the goats milk. Which I had not thought about until just now!!! CRAP but Andy was going to be gone and I could not feed them the goats milk they get really pushy not to mention the doe is now prego and old she needed the break.
If anybody has any thoughts I'd appreciate it, they do not seem to be in pain unless we try to stand them up and I think that's more of a panic than pain response. They will be put down Wednesday reguardless. |
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Post by horselady on Dec 2, 2014 1:08:46 GMT
I have no knowledge of pigs other than i purchased 7 of them at 10 weeks old they were healthy and we processed them at 8 months old and 200 pounds each.
i would not eat them. if they have a virus from not getting colostrum to be that meat is tainted. better to put them down and contact the people you got the pigs from. as they did not allow the babies to nurse properly. totally irresponsible on their part /
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Post by karencole on Dec 2, 2014 1:41:19 GMT
I had a long talk with a major pig vet tonight his though is the they have PERS basically a immune disease, this disease allowed one of two naturally occurring viruses to take over when they were stressed. The stressor was either when they played in the auto waterer all night long and flooded the stall or when we weaned them , both of which was about 3 weeks ago. One of the viruses will cause the insides to basically "gum up" it will be clear if that's the problem when we open them up. They can be used for cat food but not people food. The other virus would be a Staph type thing that attacks the joints of the pig which is what caused the stiff gait and partial paralisis....he is leaning towards the Staph. IF htat's the case we are to use extreme caution, they can be eaten but because people can get this type of Staph we need to use gloves and cook the meat well done.
I have contacted the sellers, I have not heard back from them we are basically over a barrel. I can't take the pigs to the vet, I can't handle them so that the vet could come out here and examine them. Andy could take the day off work and run them up to the vet or take the day off for a farm call. IF we do that I don't have to tell you how much money we will loose in his wages (he's a Farrier), then there is the office/farm call, meds to maybe save the 3rd pig....possibly the 2nd Andy did say he got up this am. He did not get up tonight. So he looses a days wages, vet charges, all of which I know would be over the $220 we will be out if we loose all 3 pigs.
The family we got them from might have the funds to replace the purchase price of the pigs but they do not have the money to replace wages and vet bills. W/O the vet costs I can't prove 100% that the pigs came with this disease although the fact that it happened at weaning and 2 of the 3 show the same exact symptoms the vet was sure it was auto-immune. He even sounded a bit excited because when he worked pig research they would often have to go through 100 pigs to find one with what our pigs have. To have 2 out of 3 would have been great research material.
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hugs
Junior Member
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Post by hugs on Dec 2, 2014 2:32:38 GMT
Given what you know, if were me I would quarantine those sick pigs, but did you already? Of course you must wear the requisite PPE, you know all about that. Don't mess around. Cut your losses and never buy pigs that young again. Shame on the sellers but they're learning from their ignorance too, I'd get my money back and never do business with them again.
I am so sorry this happened, the important thing is you protect yourself and your family.
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mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
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Post by mingiz on Dec 2, 2014 4:16:11 GMT
Wow I'm new to raising them and I have had good luck so far. The pigs we have gotten were about a month old when CJ got them. We feed a medicated feed up till the last month then we switch to the non medicated and corn. Our last 2 should be ready this week. The newest 2 are healthy and growing. Sorry that you got a crappy deal. I would report those people. How many other pigs are carriers? How many other people have lost hard earned money buying them then losing them. That really sucks!!! Yes be careful as  stated |
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Post by karencole on Dec 2, 2014 11:48:21 GMT
So an update the 2nd pig was up this am, a bit shaky but looks like he's going to pull out of it. We will be putting the other one down tomorrow, I'll let you know what we find.
From what the vet said all pigs carry the Staph and the other 20 letter name, not all pigs have PERS which is the auto immune disease. The stress from either playing in the cold water all night or weaning is what allowed the Staph or whatever it is to come through.
Unfortunatly w/o a necropsy and vet report there is nothing to report. I may take photos of the inside of pig 1 we'll see what we find and go from there.
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Post by horselady on Dec 2, 2014 12:13:16 GMT
Do what you know in your heart and mind is the right thing to do. we would not incur all those expenses either. as for photos i would rather not see them. and yes i eat pork.and i raised some of my own too.
it is sad that the animals are so delicate. no matter what or who they are. and we all learn from other peoples experience. thanks for sharing.
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Post by carshon on Dec 2, 2014 14:36:47 GMT
Worked with pigs while in College (toward a degree in Animal Science) pigs are very delicate especially if weaned too early- I have raised small groups of piglets and never had an issue but we buy them after they have been weaned for at least a month. I would caution against opening up the pig you are putting down - even with the utmost precautions the risk of cross contamination is too great- Since these pigs are just 3 or so weeks post weaning (did I read that right) there is not much meat there to butcher off and certainly not worth the risk of becoming ill yourself.
I am sorry that this has happened to your family - as a small producer every loss is felt more profoundly.
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Post by karencole on Dec 2, 2014 23:51:42 GMT
Yes you read that correctly they were 4 to 5 weeks old but came home and were put on goats milk the same day twice a day until 3 weeks ago. The second pig that was having problems is up and doing well. He went from stiff to down and back to stiff again, the vet did say there was a chance of recovery, we did get lucky on that one. I think the one that we are putting down was the runt, so while he caught up with the other two on the goats milk, getting sick brought him down quickly, afterall I've seen it in goats as well sometimes runts just don't do well.
Carshon I get your caution about opening up the downed pig but I have to, I need to see for myself just what the vet was talking about. We are not going to try and salvage any meat from him but I have this crazy need to see just what the vet was talking about. He will be put down in a vacant pasture and we will double glove and then some.
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hugs
Junior Member
Posts: 2,647
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Post by hugs on Dec 3, 2014 3:35:52 GMT
I'd wear something to protect your face in case fluids splash, a paper facemask and goggles at least. Pretty common procedure when doing any autopsy/dissection.
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Post by karencole on Dec 4, 2014 4:16:36 GMT
I'd wear something to protect your face in case fluids splash, a paper facemask and goggles at least. Pretty common procedure when doing any autopsy/dissection. I can get that at work.....good idea |
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