Pig Respiratory Disease Monitoring

Systematic respiratory disease monitoring in pig farms enables early detection and treatment of conditions that cause significant pain and welfare compromise if unidentified.

Key Facts

Respiratory disease causes approximately 30-40% of antibiotic treatments in pig farms
Lung scoring at slaughter provides retrospective data on respiratory disease prevalence in finishing pigs
Cough monitoring systems using sound analysis technology are being developed for automated detection
Respiratory disease often starts subtly - regular observation including listening for cough is essential
Pen scoring systems documenting proportion of visibly sick pigs provide useful welfare monitoring data
Early treatment of respiratory disease significantly improves outcomes compared to late intervention
Ventilation monitoring with continuous CO2 and temperature sensors identifies conditions predisposing to respiratory disease

Welfare Considerations

Respiratory disease in pigs causes suffering through coughing, breathing difficulty, fever, and systemic illness. The challenge is that pigs often continue to eat and appear superficially normal in early disease, masking significant welfare compromise. Regular systematic monitoring - including cough counts, pen scoring for sick animals, and ventilation assessment - detects disease earlier and enables treatment before severe illness develops. Slaughter lung scoring provides feedback on herd-level respiratory health that can guide housing and management improvements. Investment in monitoring systems that catch respiratory disease earlier directly reduces the duration and severity of suffering in affected animals.

What You Can Do

Implement systematic monitoring visits with cough counts and sick pen assessments twice daily
Install ventilation monitoring to detect conditions predisposing to respiratory disease development
Request slaughter lung scoring data and use it to guide housing and management improvements
Train staff to recognize early subtle signs of respiratory disease before animals become severely affected
Review and optimize ventilation, stocking density, and other risk factors based on monitoring data
Establish farm treatment thresholds specifying when identified disease triggers immediate intervention