Relationship between hygiene management and endoparasite infections in 20 sow herds

Summary

The objective of the study was to assess the hygienic measures used on organic pig farms and to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing endoparasite infections on 20 organic pig-breeding farms in Germany. Management factors related to helminth infections of the herds were recorded in personal interviews. In total, 382 faecal samples were collected from gestating sows and examined for nematode egg counts per gram of faeces. The majority of the farrowing units (n = 15) were cleaned wet, whereas most of the farmers did not clean the gestation pens at all and if so only mechanically by removing dung. Chemical disinfection was only performed in at most 20% of the farms in farrowing units. Strongylid, Trichuris suis and Ascaris suum eggs were detected in 78.5%, 2.8% and 1.3%, respectively. Regarding the worm control and hygiene management, there were no differences between strongylid free or infected farms. Thus, those farms who used comprehensive hygiene measures were not necessarily gaining the best results with respect to endoparasite infection. Without the implementation of strategic control and feedback mechanism within the production process, effectiveness of hygiene measures related to worm burden can not be assessed sufficiently.