weaner pig with diarehha

[Thyme]

Hi , we have an 11 week old piglet with diarehha. He is in a pen with his brother. There has been no food changes. The pen is raked out every evening.Last night I noticed he has diarehha. I removed all food pans from the pen & put bounce back in their water. Bounce back is an electrolite like kids pedialight. Today he still has the diarehha but is acting completly normal. What do I need to do to stop the diarehha? The local farm store has an antibotic for scours for piglets up to age 4 weeks nothing for over 4 weeks. I know scours is from ecoli bacteria.The store worker said we would know if it is scours as they smell. Our piglet has no smell. Thanks

[Grizzy]

Hey Thyme :)

This looks like a good resource board for you to look through... I hope it helps.

http://www.thepigsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8386

~Grizzy~

[Anon001]

Thyme,

Scours is sometimes caused by bacteria. Even the bacteria caused scours is not always ecoli. Pigs, calves, etc.... can have scours for a number of reasons. It can be caused by bacteria, by stress, drastic change in location, feeds, and it can even come from the soil in a paddock, pasture, or barn. Some bacterias that cause scours can lie in the soil for years even after "treating it" or trying to "disinfect it". The type you have to be especially concerned about is when they stop eating or if they aren't getting enough fresh water or if they begin to get lethargic. Little pigs should be hyper and full of energy... practically bouncing off the walls.

I would keep a close eye and if he starts downhill, you will have to act fast. It still wouldn't hurt to give him antibiotic and possibly a probiotic. If the scours don't clear up soon, I would give him a bolus. Boluses are not just for a certain size or age. The DOSE and size of bolus is usually determined by size of animal.

[WRTN]

Your pigletts may have Coccidiosis. Our local coop carries a medicated pig feed they call "Pig Zipper". It is very effective, we use on our chickens when the chicks get diarhea from Coccidiosis.

If they are not showing improvement, I would not let this go for very long as the sickness can develop very rapidly and kill them.

[jonvee]

If he's eating fine and acting fine and you don't think it's bacterial or coccidiosis it may be more stress related. This happens to show pigs, especially at fairs. Try a little hay (mostly stemy stuff) and see if that will help bind him up.

[Thyme]

Thanks for all the replys. The diarehha stopped last night. The whole time he was playing & bouncing off the walls same as the others . None of the other pigs have gotten diarehha.All are feed the same, water pans dumped & refilled 2 x a day,pens are kept clean.Hopefully this was a one time deal with him as 4 more piglets will be here in 2 weeks to go into the other pen beside these 2.