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Broken needles in pork are rare, but when they do show up, they tarnish our industry’s reputation and threaten our markets. They also pose a serious safety risk to consumers.
It’s up to you to prevent this and safeguard your livelihood and our industry. If you break a needle when injecting a pig of any age, tag it in the ear with the special marker shown below:
Attach the tag on the outside of the ear on the side where the needle was broken and tell the packer and assembler when delivering. You won’t be penalized if you ship a tagged animal and you’ll be doing your part to make sure Alberta’s pork industry retains its reputation for safe, high quality pork.
When giving medications with needles:
- Use only detectable needles
- Complete the questions in the Needles and Injection Techniques section of the On-Farm Quality Assessment form and review these protocols with your staff
- Use the appropriate needle size for the type of injection and size of pig
1. Intramuscular (IM): - Needle directed straight in to reach the muscle
- 1” x 18-20 gauge needle for pigs up to 25 lbs.
- 1” or 1 ½ “ x 16-18 gauge needle for larger pigs
2. Subcutaneous (SQ): - Needle inserted at angle to avoid reaching the muscle
- 1/2 – ¾” needle for pigs less than 10 lbs.
- ¾ - 1” needle for pigs over 10 lbs.
When a needle breaks:
- Immediately identify the pig and record the incident
- Report the incident to your supervisor, Alberta Pork or your packer
- Discuss reporting with your CQA provincial coordinator
To minimize the risk of breaking needles, follow these steps:
- Don’t straighten bent needles. Discard them immediately!
- Use proper injection techniques and needle sizes (see above)
- Inject in the neck only. Never in the ham muscles!
- Change needles before they become dull – definitely after 10-12 uses
- Restrain pig while injecting
- Keep records of all injections
So the next time a needle breaks, tag the pig, tell the packer, and take a bow. You’ve just done your part to protect your business and preserve consumer confidence in Alberta-grown pork.
To order your free broken needle tags and “Injection Techniques for Swine” posters, email Amanda.hall@albertapork.com or call 780-440-8462 or toll-free at 1-877-247-7675.
March 11, 2013 - Alberta Pork
