Get On-farm Euthanasia And Caring For Sick Pigs - Pork Checkoff

The main group of pigs will sleep together in a pile, however, other pigs will be lying spread out but with maximum contact with the floor. These separated pigs will be the more dominant pigs. The lower order pigs will lie on the edge of the main group. Pigs sleep with legs stretched out from the body.

Under anaesthesia, pigs are prone to develop problems such as hyperthermia, hypothermia, hypotension and hypoventilation. Pigs can also develop Malignant Hyperthermia. Some literature recommends that the animals are fasted for 24 hours.

Figure 2: Humane destruction of pigs. A sharp, firm blow with a heavy, blunt instrument, on the top of the head, over the brain, is an efficient way of humanely killing pigs less than three weeks of age.

Commercially, a captive bolt gun or a high electric current through the brain is used to render the animal permanently unconscious. Usually the heart continues to beat for several minutes, and the pig is ``stuck'' or the aorta severed so that they bleed out with that pumping action.

In most circumstances on the farm or ranch, gunshot is the only practical method of euthanasia. This procedure requires the selection of an appropriate firearm and bullet with sufficient velocity, energy and size to pass through the skull (enter the brain), and cause massive brain destruction.

When a pig becomes ill, injured or otherwise disadvantaged, the courses of action are treatment or euthanasia. While producers naturally wish they could make every sick or injured pig well, in some cases euthanasia may be the best option for the well-being of the animal; it is unethical to allow an animal to suffer.

The following is a partial list of methods considered as “unacceptable” for euthanasia of livestock: Manually applied blunt trauma to the head such as a large hammer. Injection of any chemical substance not labeled for use as a euthanasia agent. Injection of air into a vein.