# dont know why pig died



## simplefarmgirl (Mar 31, 2006)

trying to figure this out, I picked up 3mos 2 gilts weighing 60lbs each anyways, on last Friday, last night she was doing fine, no sign of any problems, this morning it was dark when i did chores but everything seemed ok also, tonight when I did chores I noticed one of the little gilts was lying half in and out of the little pig hut, she was died, we hauled her out,, she wasnt even cold, or stiff, their were no signs of traumor,struggles no cuts an bruises nothing, looks like she just laid down and stopped breathing, she hasnt eatten any thing different from the other piglets,
Cant afford to have vet come out and do off hour call at 100.00 just to come out and 55 an hour,. does any one have any ideas, she came from a nice clean farm, she was born there, diease free,, she father was my boar, mother had 12 and all lived I have one other one that came from same farm and she is fine. guess just looking for some ideas


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## Misty (May 29, 2005)

It could have been a strain of pneumonia. Hits very fast. Ca kill in the likes of 4 hours. She could have had a heart attack an allergic reaction, who knows It is the pits when they die.


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

Most likely pneumonia. The stress of moving coupled with wide swings in temperature between night and daytime can trigger it in young pigs.
I just brought home 11 feeder pigs. It was 80F, then a storm front blew in and temp dropped to 58F with blowing rain on the trip home.
Sure enough, one stopped eating and stood back alone from the group. She was losing weight and looked -, just not perky and agressive like her siblings. I treated her with antibiotics, and she started eating and showing interest in life again.
Probably do a follow up treatment tomorrow.


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## Gregg Alexander (Feb 18, 2007)

Most likely pneumonia. Temp swings can cause it. I worked for a contract grower raiseing 50-60 thousand hogs a yr. Despite every thing you do they still will just die


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## JennNY (Aug 10, 2006)

We had a pig die once also. No explanation, to us anyways. I did all this reading on it and couldn't find a reason for the death. Sometimes they just die?? Just watch your other ones to make sure sickness doesn't spread.

JennNY


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## janeren (Sep 14, 2007)

We have pigs and we started out with 4 and now have 2. 1 of them was just a really nice looking pig. Healthy, growing GREAT and one afternoon we went out to feed like usual and that pig was dead. It looked like he just went over and laid down and died. I worked as a vet assistent and called my vet friend and she said that it happens sometimes. It could be genetic heart problems that are not detected. We just counted it as a loss. I was still upset cause of all the money we had put into it but what can you do.


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

Knock on wood, but I have yet to encounter this problem with our piglets, which are born and raised on our farm. Now, ask me about sheep and I'll tell you they will drop dead if the wind blows the wrong way :flame:, but my pigs are amazingly tough! I think it helps build their robustness and resistance to ills that they spend their whole lives outdoors, with room to run, so their lungs are strong from about 3 days old and on.


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## Siryet (Jun 29, 2002)

can't answer your question/problem but our pig supplier warranties that their piglets will be alive for at least thirty days after we pick them up.
The supplier knows how well we treat our animals so they aren't afraid of abuse on our end.
Hope your supplier is as honorable as ours.


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## simplefarmgirl (Mar 31, 2006)

Well my luck isnt getting any better, the second pig died last night, she was fine yesterday morning, last night at chore time, she was just lying down on her side, , then noticed her kicking and died,.. As for my supplier,, these pigs were payment for use of my boar, there are no more pigs to get,,,they sold all the rest and these 2 were mine,I called them to tell them what was happening,, and no return call.. my other pigs are all doing great no problems knock on the biggest piece of wood you can find. thee pigs were here less than a week.


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## hoggie (Feb 11, 2007)

I have no idea what it might be but if both died I would be worried about the other piglets having something contagious and spreading it to whereever they have gone to. 

Really sorry to hear it though - it's always worse when you don't know what it is.

Hope you manage to get some answers.

hoggie


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## piglady (Sep 28, 2006)

Unless the breeder had some germ sweaping through the herd, I would assume they are lacking in something that has caused their immune system to be down. It's not like they were newborns and too weak to survive. I would be curious enough to cut it open (the dead one of course) and see what the digestive system looks like then check the liver. If it's a parasite problem, it would show. If not, I would put money on a vitamin/mineral problem. So sorry this happened to you.


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## gimpy (Sep 18, 2007)

I understand where you are coming from. (the pig's value less than a vet charge) We had a pig come down with some form of an obvious encephalitis. I even tried to give it to the local veterinary school so they could do a necropsy or whatever. I thought that they would like the offer, from an educational standpoint. They said since it wasn't a horse or a cow that I should shoot it and toss it in the woods. I quarantined it, and kept it fed and watered and it eventually recovered and no other pigs got sick.


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