As pig farming becomes increasingly large-scale each year, pig farms face ever-greater risks. Looking at the current state of pig farming in China, many farmers try to cut costs and maximize profits by taking shortcuts and failing to manage their farms properly, causing considerable losses. To genuinely improve farmers’ management skills, this overview summarizes issues and management gaps in current pig-farm management in China that farmers often overlook. We hope farmers will take these issues seriously and prevent them from occurring.
Substandard infrastructure
Newly built pig farms should not be stocked immediately. Wait until the cement in the walls has fully cured, then disinfect twice with an acidic disinfectant before bringing in pigs. If pigs are brought in too soon, before the cement has fully cured,
The alkalinity is also too high, which will corrode the pig’s hooves and cause hoof cracks. In addition, the concrete floor must not be too slippery; otherwise, pigs will have difficulty standing and may easily splay their legs. At the same time, the floor must not be too rough, to avoid causing laminitis or swollen joints.
Misuse of personnel
Some pig farms, in an effort to cut costs, do not employ dedicated veterinary staff. When disease outbreaks occur, they then use large quantities of medication indiscriminately, resulting in high medical expenses. Some farm workers have limited qualifications and do not realize that pig farming is also a high-tech industry. It requires highly qualified personnel, and workers’ enthusiasm must also be properly encouraged.
Misconceptions about medication use
Misconception one: Over-reliance on antibiotics. Many livestock farmers mistakenly believe that antibiotics “cure all diseases” and can also be used preventively. They frequently use antibiotics and hormones during rearing to boost pigs’ disease resistance and increase their weight gain. Some pig farms dare not stop using medication, fearing that the pigs will get sick as soon as they do. Little do they realize that all medicines have side effects, and excessive use can cause adverse effects. Medication should be administered regularly according to a schedule.
Misconception two: Many livestock farmers like to blindly pursue what is fashionable, mistakenly believing that the newer, more expensive, or more advanced an antibiotic is, the better it is. Little do they realize that each antibiotic has its own characteristics and advantages. In fact, antibiotics are not categorized as advanced or basic, or as new or old. To correctly diagnose diseases in livestock and poultry and prescribe the appropriate treatment, one must completely reject the mistaken idea that “a drug’s quality and level of advancement can be judged by its price.”
Misconception three: Switching medications before completing the course. No matter what medication is used, whether it works or not, stopping it after just two days is extremely detrimental to treating pig diseases.
Misconception four: Failing to switch to a new medication when appropriate. Many farmers repeatedly use a particular medication after it has cured a disease, overlooking the pathogen’s sensitivity to the medication. In addition, a medication’s preventive dosage differs from its therapeutic dosage, so one dosage should not be used for every purpose.
Misconception five: Using too little medication or increasing the dosage. Many veterinary medicines produced by veterinary drug manufacturers today specify dosage and administration in terms of how many kilograms of feed each bag should be mixed with, or how much water it should be diluted in. Some farmers overlook the fact that sick pigs eat and drink less. If they do not calculate the amount of medicine based on the reduced daily feed intake, they may unintentionally underdose, which not only fails to achieve the desired therapeutic effect but can also increase pathogen resistance. Another common mistake is to double the dosage of every medicine, regardless of the drug, based on the manufacturer's product instructions.
Misconception six: Combining medicines indiscriminately. Using multiple medicines in an indiscriminate combination for any disease, without understanding their pharmacology or effects.
Misconception seven: Using raw powders indiscriminately. Every finished medicine has undergone scientific processing. Most consist of an active ingredient, an efficacy enhancer, a solubilizer, and a stabilizer, and work well when used. Nowadays, however, a wide variety of raw powders are displayed on merchants’ counters, and livestock and poultry keepers are misled by claims that “raw powders have high purity and work well.” Raw powders often come without instructions for use, and livestock and poultry keepers may not be clear about their intended uses, which can lead to their misuse. In addition, some veterinary medicine manufacturers now use English instead of Chinese to list the main ingredients of their products in an effort to follow the trend. Few livestock and poultry keepers understand English, often resulting in the repeated use of similar medicines. This not only wastes medicine but can also lead to drug poisoning.
Misconception eight: Using probiotics and antibiotics together. Probiotics are live bacteria and will be killed by antibiotics, resulting in both medications being less effective.
Confusion over vaccine use
Inaccurate estimates of vaccine demand, resulting in over-ordering and quantities exceeding their expiration date; storage temperatures were too high, so although still within the expiration date, the vaccines had become ineffective but were not discarded; the power supply was unreliable and there were no emergency measures, causing repeated freezing and thawing of vaccines; management was disorganized, and vaccines were not stored by category, with live vaccines kept together with inactivated vaccines, and vaccines that should have been refrigerated instead being frozen; no ice packs were used to maintain a low temperature during transport, and vaccines were exposed to high temperatures for too long; some were not properly wrapped during transport and were exposed to ultraviolet radiation; vaccines were diluted with river water, boiled water, or cooled boiled water, not realizing that these directly affect vaccine activity. It is best to dilute vaccines with a diluent, distilled water, or physiological saline; vaccines were left for too long after dilution, resulting in a low vaccine titer; the dosage used was inaccurate—either insufficient or excessive, causing immune paralysis; antibacterial drugs were added to the feed while live vaccines were being used.
Biosecurity was not given sufficient attention
Many pig farms do not fully understand disinfection. They believe its effects are not visible, that disinfecting makes no difference, and some treat it as a mere formality. Disinfection should be taken seriously: it is important to farm safety and is one of the effective ways to prevent pathogens from spreading into the farm from outside and from spreading between pigs.
Improper feed use
Feed boars sow feed. Because boar feed sells in small volumes, some feed mills that do not offer boar feed have boars eat sow feed, resulting in reduced sperm motility in boars.
Small-scale pig farms often use gestation feed during the sow's lactation period, resulting in low milk production and sows not coming into heat after weaning or repeatedly failing to conceive.
The feed was not used according to the formula provided by the feed company; the feed formula was changed arbitrarily.
Wet feeding may cause mold poisoning and increase mosquitoes and flies in summer, thereby accelerating the spread of disease; in winter, the feed’s low temperature causes pigs to consume a large amount of energy.
When free-choice feeding is used, fresh feed is added before the feed at the bottom of the trough has been eaten. Over time, the feed at the bottom may become moldy and spoil.