Piglet diarrhea or scour

Piglet diarrhea or scour

Of all the diseases in the sucking piglet, diarrhea is the most common and probably the most important. In some outbreaks, it is responsible for high morbidity and mortality. The main bacterial causes are E. Coli and Clostridia and the main parasite is Coccidia.

Clinical signs

Scour in the piglet can occur at any age during sucking but there are often two peak periods, before 5 days and between 7 and 14 days.

Acute disease

The only sign may be a perfectly good pig found dead. Post-mortem examinations show severe acute enteritis, so sudden that there may be no evidence of scour externally. Clinically affected piglets huddle together shivering or lie in a corner. The skin around the rectum and tail will be wet. Look around the pen for evidence of a watery to salad cream consistency scour. In many cases, there is a distinctive smell. As the diarrhea progresses the piglet becomes dehydrated, with sunken eyes and a thick leathery skin. The scour often sticks to the skin of other piglets giving them an orange to white color.

Prior to death piglets may be found on their sides paddling and frothing at the mouth.

Sub-acute disease:

The symptoms are similar but the effects on the piglet are less dramatic, more prolonged and mortality tends to be lower. This type of scour is often seen between 7 to 14 days of age manifest by a watery to thin salad cream consistency diarrhea, often white to yellow in color.

Treatment

·         in severe outbreaks of E. Coli disease the sows feed can be top dressed with the appropriate antibiotic daily, from entry into the farrowing house and for up to 14 days post-farrowing. This can be effective in reducing bacterial output in the sows faeces.

·         observe litters for the presence of diarrhea both night and morning.

·         study the history of the disease on your farm. Is it sporadic, in one piglet in a litter, or total litters?

·         in the light of the history either treat the individual pig or on the first signs of disease treat the whole litter.

·         if a litter is badly scoured dose night and morning for a minimum of two days.

·         assess the response to treatment. If there is no change within 12 hours, then change to another medicine as advised by your veterinarian.

·         always treat piglets less than 7 days of age by mouth.

·         for older pigs where the disease is less acute injections are equally effective and easier to administer.

·         provide electrolytes in drinkers. These prevent dehydration and maintain body electrolyte balances.

·         cover the pen, the creep area and where the pigs defecate with straw, shredded paper, shavings or sawdust.

·         provide an additional lamp to provide an extra source of heat.

·         use binding agents such as chalk, kaolin or activated attapulgite to absorb toxins from the gut.

Management control and prevention

·         adopt procedures to prevent the spread of the scour - disinfect boots between pens, use a disposable plastic apron when dosing piglets to prevent heavy contamination of clothing, wash hands after handling a scoured litter, disinfect brushes and shovels between pen.

·         ensure that farrowing houses are only used on an all-in all-out basis with a pressure wash and disinfection between each batch.

·         farrowing pens must be dry before the house is repopulated. Remember that moisture, warmth, waste food and faeces are ideal for bacterial multiplication.

·         pen floors should be well maintained. Poor pen hygiene associated with bad drainage predisposes to scour.

·         look carefully at the part of the pen floor where there are piglet faeces. Is this poorly drained? Do large wet patches develop? If so cover them with extra bedding daily and remove. This is a most important aspect of control.

·         check nipple drinkers and feeding troughs for leakages.

·         ensure that faeces are removed daily from behind the sow from the day she enters the farrowing crates until at least 7 days post-farrowing if the floors are slatted. Also remove faeces daily throughout lactation if they are solid concrete.

·         maintain creep environments that are always warm and comfortable. Fluctuating temperatures are a major trigger factor to scour particularly from 7 to 14 days of age.

·         consider vaccinating against E. Coli (make sure first that this is the cause of the problem however). E. Coli vaccines only protect the piglet for the first 5 to 7 days of age.

·         assess the environment of all the farrowing house. Poor environments allow heavy bacterial multiplication and a much higher bacterial challenge is likely to break down the colostral immunity.

·         check the sow's health. Animals affected with enteric or respiratory disease, lameness or mastitis predispose the litter to scour.

·         where farrowing house floors are very poor, pitted and difficult to clean, brush them over with lime wash containing a phenolic disinfectant.

·         Colostrum management : it is vital that the piglet receives the maximum amount of colostrum within the first 12 hours of birth. High levels of antibody are only absorbed during this period. Factors such as poor teat access, poor crate design, and particularly the development of agalactia in the sow, associated with udder oedema, reduce intake.