Difference between revisions of "Thin Sow Syndrome"

Revision as of 20:18, 27 July 2010

Description

Thin sow syndrome is a multifactorial condition in which sows loose a large proportion of their body weight during lactation and early pregnancy and fail to restore their condition post weaning. The weight loss is progressive leading to emaciation, poor fertility and death. The ethical and economical consequences are serious.

Signalment

The condition is usually sporadic but may also affect an unacceptionally high proportion of the herd. The cause is multifactorial, involving poor husbandry, inadequate feeding, parasites, and intestinal malabsorption which may be due to damage by parasites or another clinical disease.

It is associated with, but not caused by, Oesophagostomum.

Outdoor reared pigs may be at increased risk due to the lower environmental temperatures which mean that they require 200kg more feed per sow per year than indoor reared pigs.

Diagnosis

Clinical Signs

Progressive weight loss
Body condition score of 1 (out of 5)
Pale mucosa
Hypothermia
Poor asppetite
Low conception rates
Infertility

A full clinical exam should be carried out to rule out other conditions. A faecal egg count should also be performed to determine whether parasites are part of the cause.

Treatment

Once the weight loss is severe and the lack of body fat has forced the sow into a catatonic state treatment is not usually successful. Sows should be fed high qualily, high energy feed ad lib and kept warm in suitable housing. Culling affected animals and replacing stock is preferable inmany cases.

Focus should be on preventing the condition by adopting good management practices with individual feeding regimes, regular weight and condtion monitoring and effective parasite comntrol.

References

Jackson, G.G. and Cockcroft, P.D. (2007) Handbook of Pig Medicine Saunders Elsevier
Merck & Co (2008) The Merck Veterinary Manual (Eighth Edition) Merial
Taylor, D.J. (2006) Pig Diseases (Eighth edition) St Edmunsdbury Press ltd

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 The condition is usually sporadic but may also affect an unacceptionally high proportion of the herd.
 The cause is multifactorial, involving poor husbandry, inadequate feeding, parasites, and intestinal malabsorption which may be due to damage by parasites or another clinical disease.
+It is associated with, but not caused by, ''[[Oesophagostomum]]''.
+Outdoor reared pigs may be at increased risk due to the lower environmental temperatures which mean that they require 200kg more feed per sow per year than indoor reared pigs.
 ==Diagnosis==
@@ Line 18: / Line 22: @@
 A full clinical exam should be carried out to rule out other conditions. A faecal egg count should also be performed to determine whether parasites are part of the cause.
-===Pathology===
 ==Treatment==
 Once the weight loss is severe and the lack of body fat has forced the sow into a catatonic state treatment is not usually successful. Sows should be fed high qualily, high energy feed ad lib and kept warm in suitable housing. Culling affected animals and replacing stock is preferable inmany cases.
@@ Line 28: / Line 31: @@
 * Merck & Co (2008) '''The Merck Veterinary Manual (Eighth Edition)''' ''Merial''
 * Taylor, D.J. (2006) '''Pig Diseases''' (Eighth edition) ''St Edmunsdbury Press  ltd''
-*It is associated with, but not caused by, ''[[Oesophagostomum]]''.
-*It is primarily a nutritional problem leading to the following sequence of events:
-**if quantity of feed offered is inadequate for batch-fed sows, hungry individuals are more vulnerable to infection and likely to eat bedding (and infective larvae)
-**acquire large worm burdens
-**intestinal damage and large numbers of eggs excreted
-**larger numbers of L3 in bedding
-**downward spiral: more and more intestinal damage
-**excessive loss of weight during lactation
-**the thin sow syndrome.
 [[Category:Pig]]
 [[Category:To_Do_-_lizzyk]]