# Deworming - When?



## Tam319 (Jan 6, 2007)

On the "Conventional Pig Practises" thread several people mentioned that they deworm "as needed". I was wondering how do you determine this? Do you do fecals? Or based on pig's condition? We deworm routinely here, but if there is a surefire way to just do it as needed that would save $, time and the unnecessary use of dewormer. When I spoke to the vet he said that butcher hogs likely don't need deworming in their life if we are raising outdoors with low stocking density as they don't live very long. They all look good...what does a pig with a high worm load look like?? Unthrifty, scrubby??

What is your preferred method of deworming, dose and product?

Thanks a bunch!


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## bonnie in indiana (May 10, 2002)

Tam,

As a Horse person and farm girl in a previous life [down to pigs and chickens] I would go by the horse rules that you are familar with. I used to worm in the Fall and in the mid Spring, and 15-30 days after purchacing a new horse. And I did the breeding stock mostly when not pregnant. With pigs, I see not much difference.

I will be interested what the REAL PIGGERS have to say. Some people say that livestock in general is being overwormed.


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## Tam319 (Jan 6, 2007)

Hey Bonnie,

Yes, I currently deworm my breeding stock twice/year pre-breeding (I farrow twice/year). As you said, horse people are brought up doing "routine deworming" which perhaps isn't ideal, esp in food animals. Will be interesting as to what others do.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Hi Tam,
I'm one of those who deworms as needed and this goes for all my stock including cattle and sheep. In this country we now have "drench resistance" which has largely come about through routine drenching irrespective of whether is was needed or not. I'm sure you will be having the same problem in the States too.

To pigs. With the butcher pigs I do exactly as your vet has suggested. They get wormed once at weaning and never get done again. The very rare exception will be a grower that just isn't doing well in which case I will seperate to a new area and deworm him again. I think that's happened once. My pigs too are outdoor pigs.

I do the sows 2 weeks before farrowing and this is as much for the piglets benefit as for hers. Depending on what the sow is looking like come weaning, I may deworm her again at that stage but usually it's not necessary. Boars get done if they need it - at present neither of my boars have been wormed for nearly two years.

A pig in need of worming does start to lose weight and look generally unhealthy. And like any animal that is unthrify, is will be more open to getting other problems such as mange and lice. They will often be irritable and bad tempered, sleep a lot and just generally out of sorts. You may also see worms in their stools.

If your pigs are looking well, nicely rounded, clean skin and younger pigs are having a "mad half-hour" (as my mother used to call it) racing around and oinking, you have healthy pigs and even if they do have a worm burden, they are able to cope with them and that's good. We want the animals to be resistant to the parasite, not the parasite resistant to the dewormer.

For preferance, I use injectable Ivomec - that way I know that the pig is getting the correct dose for size.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## Tam319 (Jan 6, 2007)

Ronnie,
Thanks for the info. Yes, our pigs are all sleek and shiny, racing around and squealing like mad. A picture of health I 'spose. LOL We too use Ivomec injectable. I have not wormed anything at weaning. My butcher animals have been chemical and vaccs free thus far. I wonder if I should start deworming at weaning or just continue as I am and see if I have any worm issues showing up down the road?


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

We only deworm as needed which comes out to be almost never. When I say deworm I mean with chemical wormers. Our pigs naturally dewormed all the time by:

1) rotational grazing
2) harsh cold winters
3) no barns
4) they eat pumpkins in the fall
5) they eat pine and spruce year round
6) I occasionally feed them garlic powder or chili peppers
7) they drink whey and milk daily
8) they eat a lot of hay and grass

All of these things help keep down parasite populations. The result is we've never had any herd wide problems. Occasionally I will spot an individual pig that is not gaining well, skinny, bloated belly or 'depressed'. I'll give it garlic or chili peppers. It perks right up. I used to do fecals to make sure that was what was needed and then double check later but I haven't in a while. I haven't used chemical wormer in about two years.

All that said, realize that if you live in the south then things can be very different. Our freezing weather and keeping the pigs outside kills off the parasites and breaks the cycle of infection. Different situations require different responses. Even there though you can minimize the need for wormers by good management and feeding of natural deworming feeds that inhibit the parasites.

See this article:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2005/10/worms-au-natural.html

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## Tam319 (Jan 6, 2007)

Thanks Walter. I knew you'd have some info for us!! I'd heard about the foods you'd listed except for dairy products. That is really interesting. Do you have any additional info on that? I am hoping to start feeding our pigs milk when our Jersey and goats freshen this spring.

I've also found a new vitamin/mineral premix made by a company called Natural Farmworks. It has DE and garlic in it. I was wondering if this might help out our feeders that we don't use chemical wormer on?


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## Rogo (Jan 1, 2006)

I feed codex food grade DE daily to all the livestock for good health. It also deworms. No withdrawal time for slaughter. I've never seen a need to use chemical dewormers. It works here.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Thanks Rogo, DE is one I forgot to list and a good tool.

Tam, I've not heard of that vitamin/mineral premix but then I don't use those since the pigs are out on pasture and get a varied diet. If it has DE and garlic in it that could be good. As to the dairy, they grow very nicely on it. Dairy makes an excellent complement to pasture. One thing I've read is that the pH of whey is part of the effectiveness for deworming. I read about this after we started feeding whey and haven't researched it deeply. I'm not sure where the links went that I had read at. If you find any research, please do post.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## Tam319 (Jan 6, 2007)

Ahhh, pH. That does make sense. I am really excited about having some milk fed pigs. How much milk would you suggest daily for the avg feeder pig? I imagine they love it so much they'd probably slurp it up til they burst.

Yes, I was very excited to find a premix with DE and garlic in it. This Natural Farmworks company is a breath of fresh air. Up to this point we've been buying our premix from a company that sells to most big commercial barns and getting them to sell product WITHOUT meds in it is like pulling teeth. Argh!


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Our pigs drink about 3.6 gallons per hundred weight per day. Heavier (creamier) means less consumption. See here for some phun fotos:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2007/04/big-whey-tank.html

Cheers,

-WalterJ


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