Hogs & Mites? Mange?

[Sharedspirit]

I'm currently waiting for our vet to call me back. Our sow had her second litter of pigs on the 2nd of this month. Sunday, I noticed little black lines on one of the pigs tails. I thought it just got it's tail in the mud and didn't think much of it.

This morning...most of the babies have the same marks down the center of their backs and on the creases of their ears. It feels like very thick black scabs. Whatever this is came on very quickly.

The sow doesn't have any symptoms at all. They are all on pasture. We also have a boar in a seperate pen, and 5 hogs ready go to the butcher next week in a different pen. None of the other hogs are showing these symptoms either. I've never seen anything like it. Our vet is out on a farm call and can't be reached by phone. (no cell service) . This is her second litter and she had them a week early. From reading on the internet and the books I have, it looks like it could be mites. The vet had already checked our hogs and no new hogs have been introduced into the farm. If it is mites? Where did they get them? Can hogs get mites from other animals? We also have dogs, cats, chickens and rabbits.

I wish the vet would call! I'm worried we will lose the whole litter. One of them is starting to act like she's having trouble with her spine swaying.

Any thoughts on this are appreciated!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Take a good picture an go to a feed store. If the owner cant help one of the hog farmers that come threw the store will be able to.

If it is a mite or the mange they will probably point you to a vial of Ivermectin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivermectin

 

[Sharedspirit]

Thanks Rebel, I can try that but all of our local feed stores are closed. The only thing we have left is basically a Tractor Supply. Those guys aren't usually real helpful. I'm going to call our extension agent next. Could be a while before the vet is available.

 

[iajewel]

Mites are very common in hogs. They won't kill them over night. Its like lice in chickens, it takes a long time for them to really pull them down. Just ivomec them and things will be fine. Also spray some dairy dip where they bed down.. not allot or the dip will kill them.. but just lightly to kill what mites may be in there and then don't let them back where you sprayed for a week.

 

[Sharedspirit]

The vet says it is sunburn! He said it's common in pasture raised pigs and that it will go away. I didn't know sunburn on pigs would turn black like that. I'll try to post a picture of it today in case anyone else runs into this. He said there isn't much that can be done if the sow won't keep her babies under the shade and that it won't hurt the pigs. We put some pure aloe on them and are going to have to keep sunscreen on them if we want them to stay on pasture and not get a sunburn. The vet said their skin will toughen up and it will go away eventually. It's odd how the black on the pigs didn't burn, only the pink parts.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Pigment blocks sunburn. Thats why we tan in the sun. Our body adds pigment to the skin to block the sun.

 

[Sharedspirit]

This is a pig tail with a sunburn. It doesn't seem to bother them now. And they are staying under their shade better today. They also have it on their backs and ears but not as bad as the tail.

 

[iajewel]

Its not that common because I have never raised pigs anyway but in the pasture and I never had that.

 

[Sharedspirit]

I think it happened on Saturday when the sow took her babies on a walk of the fence line. The pasture has three wires of electric fence. The sow used her snout to root up a little dirt along the whole length of the fence and the babies followed her. This is her first litter on pasture. The last litter she had in the barn. Maybe the sunburn has something to do with the breed? They are a Hampshire, Cheshire, Yorkshire cross.

 

[babyblue]

a light skinned animal of any kind can sunburn. my dark bay QH never had problems, my paint got sunscreened every day in the summer or her nose turned red and peeled-poor girl. try going to the dollar store and getting some cheap spray on sun block or some of the horse fly spays have a little sunblock- but I am horseand chicken person, I dont know if fly sprays are good for livestock you eat.