Swine

How Does the Type of Vaccine Affect Pig Approachability Pre- and Post-vaccination?

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine if nursery pigs display different behaviors and postures pre- and post-injection using a live- and digital image methodology. A total of 149 pens housing approximately 19 barrows and gilts/pen (a mix of approximately 50% barrows and 50% gilts; 0.3 m2/pig) were used. Barrows and gilts were approximately 6-wk of age from a commercial crossbred genetic line. The pen applied injection treatments were (1) Ingelvac CircoFLEX®/Ingelvac MycoFLEX® vaccine, (2) Circumvent® PCVM vaccine (3) Saline. Pre-injection were conducted at 1600h the day before injections were administered. Pigs received their treatments at 1000h on the consecutive day and post-injection was conducted, 6 h after treatments were administered and 24 h after pre-injection observations. An animal-human interaction tests was completed at pre- and post-injection time points using a live- and digital image methodology. The experimental unit was the pen of pigs. The statistical model evaluating methodologies used PROC GLIMMIX. A P ≤ 0.05 value was considered to be significant. There were no pre-injection “approach” or “not” behavioral differences for the live human- (P> 0.05). Regardless of methodology used, CV-PCVM treated nursery pigs had fewer “approach” and more “not” compared to CF/MF and saline injected pigs (P < 0.0001). When examining the percentage difference between pre- and post-injection “approach” and “not,” 19.3 ± 2.3 % (6 pigs) fewer pigs classified as “approach” using live methodology and 17.0 ± 2.0 % (6 pigs) fewer pigs using the digital image. In conclusion, nursery pigs were less willing to voluntarily approach a human in their home pen 6-h after receiving a vaccine and this information is useful when considering when to conduct an on-farm animal-human measure in an assessment or third party audit.

How to Cite:

Weimer, S., Johnson, A. K., Stalder, K. J., Karriker, L. A. & Fangman, T., (2018) “How Does the Type of Vaccine Affect Pig Approachability Pre- and Post-vaccination?”, Iowa State University Animal Industry Report 15(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/ans_air-180814-351