Finishing death loss has always been costly.
By Brad Leuwerke, Swine Vet Center Even though PRRS and PED have dominated the health of many US swine herds over the last 12-months, it is important to remember, as we move into summertime, in finishing herds, there are other causes of mortality that can cause financial loses. Finishing death loss has always been costly. Today with record feed price and historically elevated pig prices, that loss is compounded. Depending on your operation the cost of an increase of 1% finishing mortality could be $1.50 - $2.00 per pig and may be even higher if those deads occur late in the finishing phase. Some of the most common causes of summertime death loss in finishing pigs, include bacterial pathogens, Ileitis, Erysipelas and A. suis along with non-infectious syndromes like hemorrhagic bowel. Producers should be prepared to prevent these costly causes of finishing mortality. Ileitis and Erysipelas Although Ileitis and Erysipelas are completely unrelated pathogens, both are notorious for causing sudden outbreaks in late finishing. Seasonally, both tend to show more activity during the summer heat. Luckily, effective vaccines are available to prevent both diseases. Almost all herds are positive for these bacterial pathogens and it’s important that vaccines are administered well before those bacteria move through the population, causing disease. While each herd is different, diagnostic surveillance has taught us that vaccinating growing pigs before they reach 10-12-weeks of age is important. Swine producers have both oral and injectable vaccines available. Oral vaccines offer a convenient administration must be run during an antibiotic-free period whereas injectable vaccines don’t require an antibiotic free period but carry the added stress of administering an injectable vaccine. A. suis (and APP) Another disease that can cause measurable finishing mortality is Actinobacillus suis (A. suis). Common to many herds, this bacterial disease often causes sudden mortality in seemingly healthy, normal pigs. A. suis tends not to have a seasonal pattern and can cause dramatic mortality even without a viral (PRRS or Influenza) co-infection. Finishing herds with A. suis deads benefit from the use of autogenous A. suis vaccines, where the herd bacterial strain is isolated, developed into a vaccine and given to the pig, often prior to weaning with a second dose of vaccine commonly given while in the nursery. As a sidenote, within the last several months, outbreaks of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (APP) have been reported across much of central Iowa. Most herds are naïve to APP, so when this bacterial pathogen is introduced, the effects can be overwhelming, with high mortality in hours to days following onset of disease. Access to effective vaccines for APP is limited for swine producers. Likely APP is moved through poor biosecurity practices related to trucking, rendering and site entry. Producers in high-risk areas with reported APP need to evaluate their site biosecurity practices to be able to prevent entry of this disease. Hemorrhagic Bowel Syndrome (HBS) Hemorrhagic bowel is diagnosed year-round with the highest associated morality in the summertime, due we think to intermittent eating patterns, causing overgrowth of Clostridium bacteria in the intestinal tract of affected pigs. Typical hemorrhagic bowel pigs are late finishing age and have a history of gorge-eating (environment, crowding, feed outage, health) that leads to the hemorrhagic/mortality event. Preventing outbreaks is often multifactorial and may include: Barn environment: We know summertime heat creates a barn environment that encourages pigs to lie around during heat of the day only to eat large meals during the cooler evening hours. Although on the hottest times of year we may not feel were successfully removing heat, anything that we can do to encourage more pigs to even out eating patterns throughout the day the more success we’ll have limiting HBS deads. Challenge barn setpoints in finishing, which during hottest summer days can allow additional hours during the morning where finishing pigs are encouraged to eat. The use of sprinklers and stir-fans are also important for reducing the time groups of pigs are off-feed in finishing. Feed outages and feed quality: Much like the effect of intermittent eating due to summertime heat, out of feed events lead to gorging events and subsequent HBS outbreaks in finishing pigs. Is your barn equipped to prevent out of feed events (sensors, feed motors, feed bin maintenance) and are you able to keep feed in bins (accurate feed orders)? Just as important, poor feed quality, as a result of mycotoxins, grind or pellet quality encourage intermittent eating resulting in an increase in HBS. Health and Genetics: The health of pigs can also play a role in the number of HBS deads. This is most apparent when pigs are recovering from a disease challenge and “get back onto” feed, leading to HBS. Some genetic lines tend to be high intake meal-eaters, which may increase risk of HBS to occur. Although these factors are harder to control, we may try to supplement pigs as they progress and recover from a disease challenge to aide in hydration (acidification or chlorination) which may smooth the transition back into normal eating patterns. The swine industry is gearing-up for an unprecedented summer with high feed costs and high pig prices. Swine producers can’t afford to let finishing mortality take away profit. Summertime heat will soon be upon us. If diseases including Ileitis, Erysipelas or A. suis are diagnosed causes of mortality in your finishing herd, work with your veterinarian to review vaccination timing and administration. It’s also important to remember that summertime also brings with it an increased frequency of HBS mortality. Review ventilation settings, including misters and stir fans. Make sure your feeding system is also set-up to reduce out of feed events, which will reduce HBS deads.
Reference Assessing Economic Opportunity of Improving Mortality Rate in Wean-to-Finish Swine Production. Iowa Pork Industry Center & Ag Decision Maker https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/livestock/html/b1-78.html.
