This book provides swine practitioners, students and farmers with very useful, up-to-date and thorough information about any disorder that might affect pigs. The guide will also go through issues which are often difficult to find in textbooks, like clinical examinations of pigs, normal behaviour and pig handling, reproductive physiology and the main disorders with their main clinical findings.

John Carr

John started learning the ropes about pigs at the age of 11. He qualified as a veterinarian in 1982 by the University of Liverpool. After 5 years in general practice he returned to university to complete a Leverhulme residency in pigs and a PhD in urinary tract problems of pigs at Liverpool, where he specialized in microbiology and pathology.

He has taught production medicine to veterinarians and farmers throughout the world through positions at several universities in the UK -Liverpool and Royal Veterinary College, London, and in the US -North Carolina and Iowa State- and in Western Australia at Murdoch. John runs a consultancy practice with clients in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. John specialises in maintaining the health of pigs through promoting excellence in stockmanship and production practices while controlling the cost of production. He has published several books and more than 200 refereed and non refereed articles.

Table of contents:

1. Clinical examination skills and recognition of pig disorders

Introduction

Clinical examination skills

2. Pig normal behaviour

Boar breeding or stud behaviour

Sow behaviour

Piglet behaviour

Comfort assessment

Pigs at play

Handling and moving pigs

3. Pig disorders according to clinical signs

Abortion

Coughing

Dead pigs

Deformity to the head

Diarrhoea

Discharge

Itchy

Lame

Mastitis

Nervous signs

Poor pigs

Prolapse

Skin blotches

Skin lump

Slaughterhouse complaint

Sneezing

Stillborn