Vaccines
We believe in vaccinating for our farm health and biosecurity. We vaccinate all piglets (whether breeding stock or meat piglets) around 4-5 weeks of age. Depending on the Sow and when she begins to start weaning, we start the first series of vaccines. We have found that Spring litters get out and about earlier, they start eating grass and eating along with their mother, so we believe there is more for them to be exposed to and less of their mother's milk for immunity.
At 4-5 weeks, we vaccinate piglets with Rhini Shield TX4 Swine Vaccine. This vaccine aids in prevention of Atrophic Rhinitis caused be Bordetella bronchiseptica or the toxin of Pasteurella multocida types A and D, Erysipelas caused by E. rhusiopathiae and Pneumonia caused by Pasteurella multocida type A.
Our Gilts and Sows are vaccinated prior to farrowing at 5 weeks before farrowing and then again at 2 weeks before. Dosage is 5 ml. Piglets are vaccinated at 4-5 weeks, 1 ml and again in 2 weeks at the same dose.
We also use Myco Shield vaccine when we give each dose of Rhini Shield. The Mycoplasma Hyopneumoniae Baterin Vaccine for use in healthy swine as an aid in the prevention & control of pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. The dosage is 1ml IM
Iron Shots
Personally, we do not give Iron injections to our piglets. Our soil is Iron rich and our piglets get out into the dirt within a week of birth. If the weather wasn’t accommodating for the piglets to be outside then we would make the decision to give the iron injection. In areas that are not Iron rich an injection will need to be given at 1 to 7 days of age. *Iron injections as iron dextran are given by intramuscular or subcutaneous injections to piglets between one and seven days of age. This is to correct the development of iron deficiency that leads to anemia. A dosage level of 100-200 mg per piglet is required
*https://thepigsite.com/disease-guide/iron-dextran
Deworming
When we give our first vaccines we also begin deworming. We use Safeguard wormer for 3 days. We prefer the Safeguard for Goats liquid to top dressing wormer. (All Safeguard regardless of species on the label is the same product, just make sure the dosage is correct for your pig). We use the 10% suspension (100mg/ml) and the dosage is 0.1 ml per 10# of weight given orally. Safeguard is used for treatment of lungworms, gastrointestinal worms, nodular worms, whipworms, and kidney worms.
At the time of both boosters we will give an Ivermectin injectable labeled for swine. It treats mites, lice and a variety of internal parasites. We give Ivermectin orally by injecting the dosage into a piece of bread and feeding it to the piglet. If the piglet refuses to eat ( Ivermec is bitter) it then we squirt into their mouth. Dosage is 0.2 ml per 10# of weight.
We LOVE the Allflex repeater gun for vaccinating multiple animals with the same medicine. It makes piglet vaccines go a lot smoother.
Sources: Since we are located in Alabama, we order a lot of our bulk medications from Jeffers. We get super fast shipping from them. We occasionally purchase from Dekalb County Farmer's Coop and Tyler Farms locally as well.