Worms in pigs: symptoms and home treatment with folk remedies and preparations

Quite often, owners of personal subsidiary farms and farms are faced with the problem of worms in pigs. There are many types of parasitic worms, they can be transmitted from one animal to another and gradually infect the entire livestock. Human infection is not ruled out, so the he alth of pigs must be monitored carefully. The danger of helminthic invasion concerns both young piglets and adults.

Routes of infection

In pigs, the options for infection and transmission of worms are the same as in pigs. Animal feces, dirty water or earth are ideal habitats for them.Usually parasites enter the body of animals in the form of eggs. In this form, they are not dangerous to the animal. Once the eggs are transferred to a favorable environment, worms develop rapidly.

The parasites are most dangerous for small piglets and sows. The first do not have strong immunity and can get severe lesions of the gastrointestinal tract or even die. Sows receive prophylactic treatment a month before farrowing so that piglets do not become infected with worms through milk.

The appearance of helminths is explained by a number of reasons:

• untimely and poor-quality cleaning of places where pigs are kept;
• crowding of animals in the pigsty;
• poor quality food;
• rare disinfection of feeders;
• lack of prevention of the appearance of worms.

Types and signs of infection with worms

Helminths or worms parasitize and multiply inside the body of animals. A large number of their species are known, the distribution of which depends on the habitat of parasites.

In order to fix the infection of pigs, you need to pay attention to a number of signs:

• animals lose interest in food or, conversely, cannot get enough food;
• dramatic weight loss occurs;
• permanent cough, nausea;
• high body temperature;
• sluggish behavior or, conversely, excessive activity and anxiety of piglets;
• presence of worms in the litter.

Symptoms may vary depending on the type of helminth. Even if you have one of the above signs, you should contact your veterinarian and get tested.

Nematodes

Roundworms. Their length is from 1 mm to 1 m. Female parasites enter the body of animals through contaminated soil or the feces of sick pigs. Capable of laying thousands of eggs. Young piglets are most susceptible to worm infestation. The main symptoms include their sharp weight loss, diarrhea with blood, uncontrollable vomiting, severe weakness. For treatment, special injections, feed additives are used.

Ascariasis

The disease is caused by roundworms, large roundworms up to 35 cm long. More often they affect young animals aged from a few weeks to six months. Walking around the paddocks, piglets pick up food contaminated with roundworm eggs from the ground. Adult worms develop from them in the stomach. Infection with worms is accompanied by diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, weight loss of piglets. Infected animals often grind their teeth, and in severe cases, seizures may occur.

Trichinosis

Infection is caused by parasitic worms, the length of which does not exceed 4 mm. Most often, trichinella are found in the remains of dead animals - mice, rats. After eating them by pigs, they become infected with worms, trichinella live in the intestines and are carried by the bloodstream, affecting all organs and systems of the animal.

The main symptoms of trichinosis include high fever, muscle pain, diarrhea and vomiting.

Treatment of such animals is impossible. If the diagnosis is confirmed after a blood test, they are slaughtered and disposed of.

Metastrongylosis

Worm infestation of pigs occurs as a result of infection when pigs eat earthworms. They are the intermediate carrier of the parasites that cause metastrongylosis.

The disease is acute, accompanied by cough, anemia, weight loss, and can become chronic.The first symptoms are noticeable a month after infection. Worms, migrating through the body, poison it with waste products, can cause pneumonia. Oxygen starvation of organs can lead to exhaustion of the animal.

Finnosis (cysticercosis)

The disease is caused by cestode larvae that reside and parasitize in muscle tissue. Often the source of eggs is a person who releases eggs and sexually mature forms of cestodes into the environment. Worms look like tapeworms, their body consists of several segments, inside of which are eggs. Muscle tissue, all organs, and the brain are affected. The course is chronic, the infected animal remains all his life. You can determine the pathology posthumously. For this, incisions are made on the heart, chewing and other muscles. Treatment of pigs with finnosis is not carried out.

Scrape

Helminth is considered one of the largest. Male acanthocephalans reach a length of 15 cm, females - 68 cm. Worms develop with the help of intermediate and final (definitive) hosts. The first include May beetles, dung beetles, the second - pigs.

The scraper that develops in the intestines of a piglet can not only have a toxic effect on the body, but also perforate the intestinal walls. As a result, complications in the form of peritonitis can be observed. Possible animal death.

The main clinical signs of worm infestation include:

• loss of appetite;
• diarrhea with blood;
• rapidly progressive wasting;
• arched back;
• tight stomach;
• with peritonitis body temperature +41 ⁰С.

There is no cure for handfinger infection. Sick animals are slaughtered, the rest are kept in stalls all year round.

Diagnostic Methods

You can determine the presence of worms in pigs by external signs or using clinical tests.The diagnosis is made by the presence of helminth eggs in the feces of pigs. Veterinarians test for an allergic skin reaction. Trichinosis, metastrongilosis is diagnosed in a laboratory where the composition of the animal's blood and feces is studied.

The presence of infection with acanthocephalans is determined by clinical signs or based on the study of feces, carcasses of pigs. Each owner should carefully monitor the behavior of animals, take preventive measures and contact the veterinary service if they have symptoms of infection with worms.

How to remove parasites from pigs

To rid pigs of worms, you need to consult a veterinarian. The dosage of medicines should correspond to the weight and age of the animal. Piglets can be treated with special medicines or using folk remedies and recipes.

Medicated treatment

Before starting treatment for worms, it is necessary to take tests and find out what kind of parasites the pigs are affected with.If several piglets are infected in a litter, anthelmintic drugs must be given to all animals. For treatment, drugs are used in various forms - injections, tablets, powders. The most versatile, effective and inexpensive deworming drugs include:

• Alben;
• Cestal;
• "Hygrovetin";
• Febtal;
• sodium fluorosilicon.

These drugs work well with worms such as tapeworms and roundworms. Often, veterinarians advise sodium fluorosilicone, which in powder form can be mixed into cereal feed. It should be remembered that most of the drugs used have side effects - drowsiness, apathy. According to the instructions for use, the frequency of use of medicines for deworming is at least 2 times.

If one animal is infected, it is more convenient to use injections. It is also better for young piglets to give injections. It is more difficult to give pills, young animals can choke, and the dosage in this case is maintained more accurately.

Folk remedies and recipes

You can rid animals of worms at home using available known means. It is believed that by chopping garlic cloves and adding it to the feed in a ratio of 1:1000, you can deworm piglets and get rid of parasites. Tansy powder in the amount of 1 teaspoon is given to a pig weighing 30 kg along with food. If the animal weighs more, the dosage is increased. Another option for a remedy for worms is an alcohol tincture of celandine. Two drops of the product are diluted with water and given to each animal.

Prevention

In order to prevent worms, a number of activities are carried out:

• pens cleaned daily;
• disinfection with a frequency of 2 times a week;
• whitewash the walls of the pigsty with lime;
• change bedding daily;
• buy piglets only from trusted sellers;
• Piglets are anthelmintic for the first time at 1.5 months, then at 3 months and then every quarter.

For the timely detection of infection with worms, it is necessary to carefully monitor the livestock and not disregard individuals with behavioral deviations.

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