Biology of the Pig. Swine. Farm or miniature? Breeds Body Weights

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1 Swine Pigs like humans? Obvious similarities untrue: Biology of the Pig Breeds Body Weights Yucatan mini Yucatan micro Hanford Göttingen Minisib Standard Housing Groups, visual and snout contact. Hierarchy stable, once established. Solid floors or slotted floors. Pigs will eat bedding, especially straw. Pigs are destructive Vertical bars prevent climbing. 65 kg 50 kg 70 kg 37 kg 35 kg 115 kg at 6 th Good floor traction is necessary to prevent falls and injuries. Human skin has a lot glands and circulation, pigs have few Generally the claim is true Swine handling noisy, and size of farm pigs limit their use Overall number used is going up Farm or miniature? Sexually mature & reasonable size Young g fast g growing g or large animal Minipigs available in SPF-status Intelligent animals Easily bored. Investigate by rooting, chewing, pushing, flipping. Sleep a lot. Cannibalistic isolate sick and injured. Behavior 1

2 Enrichment Bowling balls Old tires Metal chains Stra bedding Straw Moving a Pig To move a pig, use panels to guide and block. Panels must be solid (e.g., plywood or plastic). If panel is open (like mesh), the pig will see through it and will attempt to push through it. Suspended Social with People Easily gentled with human contact. Friendly and curious. Enjoy a scratch behind the ears and over the back and sides. If trained, walk on a collar and leash. Don t carry upside down. Train with food, praise to rest in a sling. Useful for repeated sample collection. Vital Signs Heart rate = beats/minute Respiratory rate = breaths/minute Rectal temperature = 39 C 2

3 Administering Medications Intramuscular: High on hip (If on thigh, muscles traumatized with leg movement.) In neck, behind ear. Extension tube is helpful. Subcutaneous: Not feasible in pigs as in other species, due to fat layer and adhered skin in pigs. Fat is thinnest behind the ear easiest to reach muscle. Ear area less sensitive to pain of injection Pictures and text: pig bleeding and intravenous techniques: pig/pigbleed/ Oral Medications If pig has an appetite Pigs can be bribed. Easiest to insert medication in canned dog or cat food, bread, or mixed with syrup, etc. Make sure that ALL the treat/medication is eaten. If no appetite put pig in a sling and use: Gastric tube Balling gun 3

4 Fasting Pre-Surgery Remember that pigs eat their bedding, especially straw. To fast, remove food and bedding. Endotracheal Intubation Long, narrow oral cavity. Standard pigs use a stylette to reach the larynx Mini pigs Laryngoscope is sufficient. Tendency for laryngospasm with mechanical stimulation Prevent with lidocaine (topical anesthetic) Laryngoscope Lidocaine Stylet in larger pigs Endotracheal Intubation A diverticulum in the larynx posteriorly Once the endotracheal tube is in the larynx, rotate it 180 to t pass the th tube into the trachea. Then, rotate it back so that the curvature of the tube follows the trachea. Swine anesthesia and analgesia /technical bulletin m/downloads/technicalbulletins/ Anesthesia%20and%20Analgesia %20in%20Swine.pdf 4

5 Anatomical Features Cardiovascular System Heart and coronary vessels more similar to humans than are dogs. Cardiac collateral circulation Infarcts readily lead to ventricular fibrillation Coronary blood supply to the conduction system is right-dominant Atherosclerosis naturally occurring Respiratory System Right cranial lobe bronchus branches from the trachea directly and above the carina. Endotoxemia produces respiratory distress syndrome as in humans. Are mammalian hearts alike? Much so, but differences in coronary circulation, and hence in response to ischemia Anatomical Features Urinary System Kidneys similar to humans. Gastrointestinal t ti System Omnivore like humans. Cecum and spiral colon unlike humans. Swine research use Cardiovascular surgery Organ transplants Atherosclerosis IV catheterization Dermatological Gastrointestinal Renal disease Diabetes mellitus Anesthesia Pharmacology Malignant hyperthermia Exercise Circulatory Toxicology Information Resources on Swine in Biomedical Research s/swine/swine.htm Free Resource Biology and Medicine of Swine. M. M. Swindle, A. C. Smith, K. L Laber, J. A. Goodrich and S. A. Bingel, In: Laboratory Animal Medicine and Management, Reuter J.D. and Suckow M.A. (Eds.) International Veterinary Information Service, 2003 Available for a free registration at Laboratory Animal Medicine and Management publications 5

6 Sheep & Goat Sheep and goats may be used as models for both agricultural and more traditional biomedical research projects Reproduction Sheep and goats are polyestrous cycling mostly in the fall estrus cycles: sheep - 16 days, goat - 21 days. Onset of puberty usually occurs in the first breeding season after birth Gestation is about 5 months Average age of weaning for lambs and kids is 6-10 weeks Lambing usually in the spring and either one or two lambs are born Ruminant? Front end fermentor Forestomachs: rumen, omasum, abomasum Continuous activity and gas production For anesthesia needs to be fasted and take care of gas removal Digestive features Ruminants require fiber or roughage to ensure proper function of the rumen, a modified part of the stomach wherein bacteria digest cellulose from plants into usable nutrients. Rumination is a process which permits an herbivore to forage and ingest food rapidly, then complete the chewing at a later time. They need peace and quiet to ruminate Healthy sheep and goats spend a third of their life, ruminating, which is belching up a ball of grass from the stomach, chewing it and then swallowing it again Sheep adult male kg Adult female kg life span - 15 years Sheep biology sexual maturity male 4-6 months / female 4-8 months breeding season Sept-March Gestation - c. 145 days litter size Administrations and blood sample SQ Injections in the loose skin where the neck and shoulder join IM Injections in the thigh muscle or the large muscles along the side of the neck. IV Injections in the jugular vein. The vein can be distended by manual occlusion of the vessel below (toward the heart) the intended venipuncture site. 6

7 Ruminant anesthesia Sedation When asleep ruminants are likely to regurgitate some of the rumen contents into the mouth and they may drain down the trachea into the lungs and cause a deadly, aspiration pneumonia Endotracheal intubation is recommended to prevent this problem. Rumen continues to ferment and produce gas while the animal is anesthetized due to being asleep, the animals is no longer belching (eructation) to reduce the gas buildup gas pressure, called "bloat", can increase to the point that the diaphragm can't contract and expand and the animal may have respiratory distress. Not allowing the animal food for 24 hours prior to anesthesia helps to reduce these problems Anesthesia Situations Needing Frequent Observation animals at full term, ready to give birth animals giving i birth or nursing young animals recovering from surgery animals confined to metabolic stalls animals receiving veterinary treatments Mastitis Health monitoring FELASA:n guidelines 7