Pig people

Posted September 8, 2016

In my previous blog, I mentioned the components that make up a pig farming system. Swine veterinarians help manage this dynamic system by keeping the host, agent, environment and nutrition in harmony to minimize problems in each farm. However, the true success of a pig production system depends on its people.

Barn managers like Rod are one in a million! He is passionate...

What does it mean to be a swine practitioner?

Posted July 22, 2016

It’s a bad day at the office for a swine veterinarian to see sickness in a pig farm that might have been prevented. Often, one sick animal can put hundreds of animals at risk. Given today’s swine health standards, if everything is working according to plan, we hope to see minimal disease in pig barns.

From farm to fork and everywhere else: how pigs make the world turn

Posted July 7, 2016

From everyday items such as soap, fabric softener, shoes, paper and pet food, to injectable insulin, paint, x-ray film and heart valves, it is quite amazing what the combination of some human ingenuity and a pig can create!

Ontario pork producers supplied 5.17 million pigs, that’s approximately...

The show must go on!

Posted June 29, 2016

The life of a show pig is far from that of pigs that are raised commercially for meat. The show pig industry is a significant component of the American swine industry where pigs are bred and sold to be raised as exhibition animals by youth to compete in national shows.

There’s power in numbers

Posted June 21, 2016

Veterinarians’ foremost duty is to be an advocate for animals. When a swine veterinarian is called out to a farm for a problem, they must not only work with the pigs but also work closely with the people involved in order to take care of those animals in need. A major part of their job as a swine veterinarian...

The calm after the storm

Posted June 15, 2016

Abilene Animal Hospital (AAH) is truly a leader in the community and takes care of its animals and its people in their time of need.

On Wednesday, May 25 the small city of Abilene was hit with a ½ mile wide, house-shattering-combine-throwing...

You might be wondering: Why pig medicine?

Posted May 31, 2016

Just a few more sleeps before I head off to Kansas for my externship at Abilene Animal Hospital (AAH), a mixed animal practice with a focus on pig medicine. I’m looking forward to learning about preventing common and foreign animal diseases in swine, maximizing animal welfare, nutrition, meat quality and also some useful survival tips and tricks for making your way through a pig barn during my time at AAH.  I’m very excited to have you follow along and learn with me as I embark on this adventure!

Now, you might be wondering...