The “Five Freedoms” have been the foundation for establishing sound animal welfare practices since they were developed by Britain’s Farm Animal Welfare Council in 1965. Freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury or disease; freedom to express normal behavior; and freedom from fear and distress established the recommended base levels of care for animals. Now, more than 50 years later, researchers have additional tools and technologies to take that basic knowledge a step further.

In fall 2019, a client called into Four Star Veterinary Service clinic in Mexico, Indiana, and reported the loss of a lot of sows. Daniel Gascho, DVM, knew the client and headed out to the business site, which was a buying station. 

On the way there, Gascho said he had several ideas of what could cause the sow mortalities before arriving. But once he was on site, he knew he was wrong. 

Veterinarians, whether specializing in large or small animals, deal with stress under the best circumstances. But in this time of difficult decisions for pork producers and those who service them due to COVID-19, maintaining mental health is even more of a concern, Athena Diesch-Chham told Pig Health Today. The veterinary social worker in the Veterinary Medical Center, College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota said mental health has been a taboo subject for far too long, noting that “the quickest way to break that stigma is for everybody to join in the conversation. This is a population that has held that off for a very long time.” 

In the end, raising hogs is about producing pork, and continuous success depends on building customers’ trust, listening to expectations and meeting their needs. As pork producers and swine veterinarians commit the bulk of their time and attention to the animals, others are charged with building the bridge between the farm and consumer. However, that’s not to say that individuals on the farm don’t play an important role.  

Influenza A virus in swine (IAV-S) is one of the primary respiratory pathogens challenging swine production systems in the US and around the world, said Phil Gauger, DVM, PhD, an associate professor at Iowa State University. The virus is transmitted from pig to pig quite easily, and the movement of pigs over long distances has contributed to IAV-S problems within swine production systems, Gauger told Pig Health Today. 

Markets for pork produced without antibiotics continue to grow. But this method of production is not for every farm, cautions Michael Pierdon, VMD, veterinarian with Four Star Veterinary Service, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

“A lot of clients do ask questions about it…They see it as a business opportunity,” Pierdon said. “But first of all, is your herd really a good candidate? Meaning, what’s your disease profile? Is your current pig-farm setup and pig flow appropriate for antibiotic free or would you have to consider reworking that in order to have good success?”

A field trial evaluating iron supplementation for baby pigs found the typical 200 mg iron shot at birth is not enough. The trial was prompted by a client who wanted to compare different iron supplementation methods, reported Brittney Scales, veterinarian for Four Star Veterinary Service in Mexico, Indiana.

Biosecurity protocols are critical to keeping the US hog herd healthy, and one of the regular tasks is to disinfect a wide range of supplies entering the farm. It’s well documented that any number of pathogens can hitch a ride on products, packaging, tools and other supplies. As a result, disinfection rooms are now commonplace within hog production sites. But the question remains: How effective are those rooms and protocols? 

That’s what Kristen Leuck, veterinary student at the University of Illinois, set out to determine in her research as part of the Iowa State University Swine Veterinary Internship Program. Specifically, she evaluated the surface-area coverage of a disinfectant applied with automatic and manual foggers.

A romanticized view of the veterinary profession, gleaned from sources like the famous Brit, James Herriot’s novel “All Creatures Great and Small,” doesn’t always mesh with the reality. Veterinarians love animals and want to help them, said Emily Byers, DVM, a veterinarian with Prestage Farms in North Carolina. “But really, we’re in the business of helping people,” she told Pig Health Today. “The animals are our patients.” 

That responsibility — and the profession itself — can bring an unhealthy dose of stress.

Slaughter checks performed at a packing plant are an underutilized tool for diagnosing subclinical disease, says Brad Schmitt, DVM, Four Star Veterinary Service, Rushville, Indiana. 

“We as swine veterinarians do a really good job of recognizing and treating clinical diseases that may be causing an obvious morbidity and mortality in the population,” Schmitt said. “I think we’ve got room to grow in recognizing subclinical issues that may not jump out at us, but they’re still there and affecting finishing performance.”