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Mycoplasma, PRRS, pleuropneumonia, Aujeszky's disease, and... I'll stop here! Four diseases, but we could also add others. Each pig, in its productive life, is now subjected to a high number of vaccinations ranging from three (at least, just for Aujeszky's) to four or five (very frequent, adding mycoplasma), but these become five or six with PRRS, or seven or eight if we also add pleuropneumonia.
That's a lot of handling, and it becomes even more if we add some parenteral therapeutic interventions. Anyone who has tried to vaccinate knows how exhausting, tedious, tiring, etc., this work is, especially when the piglets reach a weight making them difficult to "maneuver".
Instead of grabbing piglets one by one or chasing them inside the pen, these farmers have gotten the piglets to come to the syringe. Of course, it's not exactly voluntary, but... let's just say they can't refuse the invitation to come before the needle!
Welder in hand, they built a chute to channel the piglets to be vaccinated. After a few experimental prototypes, they built the tool shown in the photos.
With the piglets in a pen, the chute is placed at the gate leading to the yard. From the inside, two operators, using wooden panels, push the animals toward the chute, while the vaccinator waits for their arrival on the opposite side, as they advance in single file, and he administers the vaccine.
If some piglets pass through too quickly, a small gate slows or stops the flow to allow for vaccination. Some may object that the position of the person holding the syringe is a bit awkward, as he has to remain squatting, but I can assure you that vaccinating a pen of piglets goes so fast that it takes longer to move the contraption from one pen to another, which is easy as it is equipped with convenient wheels.
To some, it may seem cumbersome, uncomfortable, or whatever other flaw you may see, but it works!
