Worried about the Health of Your Pigs? Seaweed Can Give Them a Fighting Chance
In any livestock production system, a sick animal is an expensive animal. For pork producers, the variety of different production diseases and harmful pathogens is almost mind-boggling. African swine fever, PRRS, swine brucellosis, pseudorabies, and other diseases wreak havoc throughout swine herds, diminishing their overall health, meat quality and marketability.
Development of a hearty immune system in pigs from birth through each lifecycle stage is essential for pigs to stand a fighting chance against global diseases and for producers to maintain their profits. Our trials have shown that piglets and adult swine are better prepared to cope with disease when Tasco® products are part of their regular diet. Here’s how the Ascophyllum nodosum in our products can help producers maximize their swine health management.
Support Sows and Suckling Pigs
What you feed lactating sows during farrowing defines their health and the health of their litter during the decisive first weeks of their lives. It’s already an uphill battle. Increases in U.S. sow mortality rates have producers concerned. The low weight and undernourishment recorded in many of these instances would have left them vulnerable to a variety of harsh diseases.
For piglets, one of the greatest needs a feed can address is the enhancement of the immune system. Unlike human fetuses, piglets do not receive antibodies from their mother during gestation and instead rely solely on the colostrum, the antibody-rich first milk produced immediately after the delivery.
In both instances, the gastrointestinal health of these animals is essential. Feed supplements rich in prebiotics can foster that health by nourishing the good bacteria in their GI tract, which sparks greater immune system fortitude. The prebiotics in our Tasco® products help to support a strong immune system. This enables sows to fight illness while they’re farrowing and piglets to receive the antibodies they need to thrive.
Improve the Health of Weaning Piglets
Weaning and post-weaning can be a stressful time for piglets. Their transition from a liquid diet to solid food as well as the move out of the farrowing unit to a nursery can impair their immune system. This can result in a higher risk of disease, threatening their wellbeing now and their growth performance in the future. Pig feed formulations that contain all-natural prebiotics give piglets the resources they need for their young GI systems to combat a variety of diseases.
For example, research conducted by Texas Tech University on post-weaning nursery pigs stressed by PRRS proved the importance of feed supplements rich in prebiotics. During the five week trial, piglets receiving Tasco® as part of their diet were about 27% larger than piglets in the control group. Their feed intake and feed efficiency was also superior to pigs just eating the basic diet.
Now is your chance to improve swine health management with a holistic approach. Request a sample of our Tasco® products to fortify your livestock with essential nutrients.
Request a sample of Tasco® for Hogs
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