Telehealth for pigs: the sky is the limit

Jan 03, 2023

Pig health and welfare expert Dr Monique Pairis-Garcia sees endless possibilities for technology in the swine barn, telehealth for pigs included.

Safeguarding good animal welfare on pig farms cannot be done without preventing, controlling or reducing the severity and impact of disease both at an individual and herd level. There is a strong relationship between an animal’s health and its welfare. Animals experiencing states of disease have compromised welfare and most often experience poor affective states of pain, lethargy and distress.

Prevention strategies
Optimising animal welfare from a health perspective can be approached either through a prevention or maintenance strategy. Prevention strategies aim to avoid disease altogether and include implementing protocols to both prevent and control the introduction and transmission of disease within a system.

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Video: WARNING! Rough Start To Breeding Season!!

WARNING! Sheep Breeding Season Begins With A Bang! Breeding season is officially underway at Ewetopia Farms, but it didn’t exactly start the way we planned!

This vlog begins with us sorting through our rams to find the perfect match for a customer’s breeding program. What should have been routine quickly turned dangerous when one of our more nervous rams panicked. In seconds, Arnie’s knee was injured, and then I was slammed hard onto the concrete floor — both of us taken down by one ram!

Thankfully, it was just bruises, but it’s a reminder of how unpredictable and powerful mature rams can be. Once we recovered, it was time to get back to the real work — the start of breeding season.

We sorted the ewes into four breeding groups (two Suffolk and two Dorset), checking parentage as they ran through the chute, deworming those that needed it, and setting aside thinner ewes for session two of breeding season in a month’s time.This staggered approach keeps lambing organized and prevents overcrowding in the barns.

From rogue rams to the excitement of new breeding groups, this episode is full of action. Stay tuned for the next vlog, where we’ll share how we chose the rams for each group!