Administering Deworming Products for Pigs
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EmailSeptember 5, 2023
The primary aim of an animal health plan is to promote health by managing identified health issues to prevent foreign diseases and contaminants from coming onto your farm and potentially increasing the risks of your swine herd getting sick. Swine producers can improve the health, welfare, and productivity of their pigs through health planning with a livestock veterinarian.
Video Transcript
When raising pigs, it is important to prioritize the health of your animal and maximize its productivity. Using the proper deworming products will help keep your animal free of internal and in some cases external parasites. Deworming medications can be given via injection or orally (in feed or water). Safe-Guard is the gold-standard for control of round worms. Rotating Safe-Guard with a product like Ivomec, will provide the broadest spectrum of coverage, as the latter products also provide long-lasting control of mites and lice. Safe-Guard is an orally fed product that controls the types of worms that affect pigs most frequently. Safe-Guard pellets are meant to be top-dressed or mixed into swine feed and fed for a period of 3-12 days, depending on the rate at which it is mixed. There is no withdrawal time for Safe-Guard so it can be fed up to slaughter. Ivomec can be given as an injectable or orally in feed or water. It controls most important parasitic worms and also provides long-term control of lice and mange mites. Ivermectin injectable should be injected subcutaneous under the skin, in the neck of the animal. Some Formulations containing ivermectin can also be administered in drinking water. For ivermectin-containing products, withdrawal time is 18 days pre-slaughter for injected product or 7 days if given orally. If your farm raises pigs outdoors they should be kept on a deworming schedule throughout the growing season and be given deworming medications every 30-60 days, rotating the deworming products when possible. It is also useful to rotate pastures if possible, as eggs and infectious larvae can build up in pasture over time. In the case of show pigs, at minimum, deworm before purchase and again within one month following placement and again one month prior to showing. Isolate new pigs for 3-4 weeks before introducing them to your herd. For pigs kept as pets on pasture for several years, treating every 6 months is usually sufficient.
