Which Vaccines Should I Use?
People have very different feelings on vaccinating meat animals and especially pigs. Many practices are acceptable and range from not vaccinating with anything at all, to using a very complex and involved vaccination program. Each farm must choose for themselves what they like and feel comfortable with. You can, of course, always ask your vet what they recommend. This is a wise practice, because different regions of the country might have certain diseases that are more prevalent than others. If you have a small farm with only a couple Kunekunes and do not add or sell Kunekunes often, you could probably get by without vaccinating for anything. But, if you have a larger herd (five Kunekunes plus) or you buy and/or sell Kunekunes frequently, you will probably find that vaccinations are cheap insurance against sickness and headache. Our farm, the K5 Farm, is a large farm with 15 adult breeding females and 6 working boars. We sell quite a few show prospects, homestead breeding pigs, and meat pigs each year. We often buy pigs who have made an impact in the show arena or whose genetics we think will advance our herd. Because of this, we have lots of people and pigs coming and going, which means we need a full spectrum vaccination protocol to protect the health of our herd. The following is the vaccination and worming program that we use.
All pigs in spring: Rhini Shield vaccination, Agrimectin wormer given two times, 10-14 days apart
All pigs in fall: Rhini Shield and Circumvent vaccinations, Dectomax wormer
Momma pigs pre-farrowing: Rhini Shield vaccination and Strongid wormer
Babies: 3 days old- Iron injection
1 week old- Rhini Shield vaccination
3 weeks old- Rhini Shield vaccination
5 weeks old- Agrimectin wormer
7 weeks old- Dectomax wormer
9 weeks old- Circumvent vaccination
Vaccine and wormer information:
Rhini Shield TX4 Swine Vaccine- available at Valley Vet without a prescription. You will also need 3cc syringes and 16 or 18 gauge needles for adults or 20 gauge needles for babies. Vaccinates against rhinitis and pneumonia.
Circumvent PCV-M G2 Swine Vaccine- available at Valley Vet without a prescription. You will also need 3cc syringes and 16 or 18 gauge needles for adults or 20 gauge needles for babies. Vaccinates against circovirus which causes mycoplasma hyopneumoniae.
Ivermectin wormer- we use Agrimectin an injectable approved for swine, but if you only have a small herd, you might prefer to use an oral paste squirted into a hot dog bun or twinkie. When our herd was small, we used horse ivermectin and doubled the dose based on weight. We give this in the spring because it also knocks out mange which is caused by mites and usually peaks at the end of winter. You can get both injectable and oral ivermectin at any feed store or Valley Vet without a prescription.
Dectomax wormer- we use injectable Dectomax in the fall. It is available at any feed store or Valley Vet without a prescription.
Strongid wormer- we give the oral paste used for horses and double the dose based on weight.
Pictured is a Slap Shot flexible vaccinator. It is WORTH EVERY PENNY if you need to vaccinate multiple animals especially if they don’t stand quietly for shots. You put the needle on one end and the medicine inside of a syringe in the other. You can give the medicine while the animal is distracted eating. Even if they immediately move away, because of the length of the slap shot tube, you can still easily give them their medicine or vaccination. You can only use the slap shot for a single type of medicine, you do not want to mix different drugs inside of the tube! Also realize that you will need an extra 3cc or so of medicine to fill the tube with before you administer. Available at Valley Vet without a prescription.
This is the only place that is acceptable to give shots. It is between their ear and their shoulder. The skin here is easiest to push a needle through (pigs can have very tough skin) and there is lots of muscle and fat beneath this area. If you give the shot immediately after feeding your pig they will be distracted and it is usually the easiest time.
