Together they analyzed the situation. In the flat deck, starting at around 18 kg, there were the first piglets with tail necrosis. The image ran through the entire mast. “What struck me immediately was that the animals were extremely restless and aggressive,” says the expert. This also explains why there was more tail biting.
The main topic, however, is the necrosis, usually beginning at the tips of the tail, but also on the edges of the ears and even the flanks. For the feed expert, endotoxins, which have a negative impact on intestinal health, are one of the main triggers. “On the recommendation of the expert, we immediately started mixing the sows Safety First, an endotoxin and mycotoxin binder, into the feed,” says Marc Hohenkirch.
“This is important. It starts with the sows. That’s the start,” says the consultant. Of course, you can only treat the animals in which the symptoms would appear, i.e. the piglets and fattening animals. “I see that often. The affected pig farmers are relatively at a loss. I often hear: save what can be saved.” Of course she could do that too, but in this phase you only fight the symptoms with a lot of effort and correspondingly high costs.
It is therefore wiser to start at the same time, i.e. with the sows, and thus minimize the pressure on the next piglets from birth. The Hohenkirch family therefore used the endotoxin binder for both the sows and the affected animals. “We have also had good experiences with giving the piglets and fattening pigs Yucabu,” says Jürgen Hohenkirch. This is seaweed flour that helps to inhibit inflammatory processes so that wounds heal faster and better.