17/01/2024
10 tips for administering injections
Source: landwirt.com
Whether for iron infection, mange treatment, or circovaccination: Injection treatment of pigs is part of the standard program for TGD farms. Here's a refresher course on storing, using, and disposing of medications.
According to the TGD regulations, livestock owners are permitted to administer the following types of injections themselves: intramuscular and subcutaneous injections of vaccines and medications, as well as oral administration of medications. Other forms of injection, such as intravenous, intraperitoneal (into the abdominal cavity), or intradermal (into the skin), are reserved for veterinarians. In addition to membership in the TGD, the prerequisites for administering medications are completion of the relevant training modules and ongoing attendance at continuing education events. Proper procedures for administering injections in pigs are an important biosecurity measure on the farm and should therefore be taken very seriously.
1. Storage of medicines
Veterinary medicines must always be stored separately from feed and food and under lock and key. Medicines in their original packaging (!) can be stored at room temperature unless the manufacturer's instructions require refrigeration.
According to the instructions on the package insert, vaccines and some other injectable preparations should be stored at refrigerator temperature. Opened bottles should always be refrigerated and protected from light.
2. Before injection - warm and shake
Remove the bottles from the refrigerator well in advance (two to three hours) before administration and warm them to room temperature. Medicine bottles containing emulsions (e.g., vaccines) or suspensions (e.g., penicillin-like antibiotics) are recognizable by their milky color. They must be shaken well before use until the sediment is completely mixed with the solvent. Only then should you withdraw the required amount of medicine using a clean needle and syringe, or attach the bottle to a dosing syringe. Always use a fresh needle to withdraw medicine from the bottle!
3. Choosing the right needle
Various types of syringes and needles are available for injection treatment. It is important to choose the correct needle length and gauge for the respective animal group.
The following needle lengths/sizes are suitable for each age group:
- Suckling piglets: 10-16 mm / 1 mm
- Weaned piglets: 15-20 mm / 1.4-1.6 mm
- Rearing piglets/walkers: 20-25 mm / 1.4-1.6 mm
- Fattening pigs: 25-35 mm / 1.6-2.0 mm
- Gilts, sows and boars: 35-40 mm / 1.8-2.0 mm
For medicines with higher viscosity (oily preparations) the stronger cannulas should be used.
4. Inject in the right place - intramuscularly...
In pigs, intramuscular injection is the preferred method. The correct location for this is the upper edge of the hairless area behind the ear. It is important that the needle is inserted at a right angle to the skin surface. Make sure the needle is long enough to inject the drug into the muscle and not into the subcutaneous fat. Muscle has a strong blood supply. This ensures that the drug is absorbed and distributed throughout the body via the bloodstream.
5. ...subcutaneous
For subcutaneous injections, the needle must be inserted parallel to the skin. When administering iron into the knee crease of a suckling piglet, the skin should be slightly stretched between two fingers before the injection. Antiparasitics such as ivermectin are also injected at the base of the ear. The needle should generally be inserted with gentle pressure, and the cone of the needle can be held in place with your other hand. If the injection site is heavily contaminated, clean it beforehand or move it to the other side of the body.
6. Dividing different medicines and larger quantities
If two or more drugs (e.g. mycoplasma and circovirus vaccination, antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drug) are administered at the same time, the injection should not be given in a mixed syringe, but separately at different sites.
For larger doses:
- Suckling piglets no more than 2 ml
- Fattening pigs no more than 3-5 ml
- Do not administer more than 5-10 ml to sows at one point in the muscle.
7. If the needle breaks
If the needle breaks off during injection and disappears into the animal's skin, the incident must be recorded and reported at slaughter. The affected pig must be visibly marked until slaughter. You can mark it with paint spray or insert an additional ear mask, which you label with a sequential number using a waterproof marker. On the livestock transport document, you must separately identify the animal with the needle in its body. To do so, add the note "Broken injection needle," including the type of marking and the sequential number of the additional ear tag. This makes it easier for the slaughterhouse to locate and remove the needle in the carcass using a metal detector.
8. Change needles occasionally
If several animals are treated in succession (e.g. mass vaccinations, iron supply to piglets), the needles must be changed regularly:
- for suckling piglets from box to box
- for rearing piglets, fattening pigs and sows after approximately 10-15 animals
- in any case always between different units (boxes, compartments, stables)
- When treating individual sick animals, always change the needle from animal to animal.
9. Clean and disinfect syringes and needles
After use, the bottles should be removed from the dosing syringes and stored in a refrigerated place. To prevent air from entering the bottles, the puncture point on the rubber stopper can be covered with wax. The automatic dosing syringes should be stored in the refrigerator with the bottle attached, as otherwise the suction device will become clogged and the rubber seals will become porous more quickly.
Used needles should be collected (e.g., in empty plastic bottles) and disposed of as hazardous waste (at municipal waste collection points). Needles that are still in good condition (syringe not bent, cone not loose) can be reused. Before use, they must be cleaned and boiled or stored in a disinfectant solution for several hours. Clean the disassembled syringe with warm water. Then disinfect the individual parts of the syringe with a suitable disinfectant.
10. Shelf life of opened medicines
The shelf life of opened medicine bottles can also be found in the package insert. Note the date of first use on the bottle.
If the medication changes appearance or consistency within its shelf life, it should no longer be used. Leftover medication and expired medications will be taken back to your veterinarian. Cleaned, empty bottles should be disposed of with your glass or plastic recycling.
Please note the following basic rules:
- Vaccinate only healthy animals. Vaccination places a certain amount of stress on the animal because it activates the immune system. The same applies to other preventative measures, such as administering iron to suckling piglets.
- Whether by injection, oral administration or application via the feed - accurate records must be kept of all medicines used.
- The corresponding waiting period for the administration of a medicinal product, which must be observed before an animal may be slaughtered, begins on the day after the last treatment.