Coughing pig

I brought home 2 AGH piglets last fall. One of them coughed and threw up, which caused me great concern. It stopped though. I figured maybe it choked and that was it. Now that it's cold this pig is coughing again. No throwing up this time. Is it because I feed them straight in the dirt? Or is this a BIG problem?

elle sagenev wrote:I brought home 2 AGH piglets last fall. One of them coughed and threw up, which caused me great concern. It stopped though. I figured maybe it choked and that was it. Now that it's cold this pig is coughing again. No throwing up this time. Is it because I feed them straight in the dirt? Or is this a BIG problem?

Do they also poop where you feed them? Pigs naturally root so eating some dirt should be fine as long as it is not contaminated with anything. My guess is you feed them on clean dirt.

If the other piglet is not affected it is probably not something contagious. There could be something wrong with its lungs that the cold triggers. If its condition does not get worse I suggest growing it to butcher size them butchering it. Don't keep it as breeding stock in case this is a problem it can pass on.

If it does not eat, drink, or gain weight find a livestock vet or someone with more pig experience to talk to.

Where are you located? Ie, how cold is cold, and is it wet?

Coughing how often, for how long each time?

Hi Elle;   Feeding your pigs in the dirt is OK .

A coughing pig could be pneumonia.  A trick taught to me be an old timer . Try giving them a partially burnt log to chew on.  The char seems to help them.

Leora Laforge wrote:

elle sagenev wrote:I brought home 2 AGH piglets last fall. One of them coughed and threw up, which caused me great concern. It stopped though. I figured maybe it choked and that was it. Now that it's cold this pig is coughing again. No throwing up this time. Is it because I feed them straight in the dirt? Or is this a BIG problem?

Do they also poop where you feed them? Pigs naturally root so eating some dirt should be fine as long as it is not contaminated with anything. My guess is you feed them on clean dirt.

If the other piglet is not affected it is probably not something contagious. There could be something wrong with its lungs that the cold triggers. If its condition does not get worse I suggest growing it to butcher size them butchering it. Don't keep it as breeding stock in case this is a problem it can pass on.

If it does not eat, drink, or gain weight find a livestock vet or someone with more pig experience to talk to.

They are in a pretty big area. I only feed them during the winter when they can't forage anything. There is poop on the ground. I put the feed in the cleanest places but yeah, there is poop.

I won't breed that one now. She is the same size as her sister. She seems healthy other than the coughing.

Dillon Nichols wrote:Where are you located? Ie, how cold is cold, and is it wet?

Coughing how often, for how long each time?

I'm in Wyoming. It was -22 last time she was coughing but that's as cold as it's gotten.

Seems sporadic, the coughing. She'll do a couple hacks and then eat some more. Couple more hacking coughs.

thomas rubino wrote:Hi Elle;   Feeding your pigs in the dirt is OK .

A coughing pig could be pneumonia.  A trick taught to me be an old timer . Try giving them a partially burnt log to chew on.  The char seems to help them.

I will try that thanks!

AGH are prone to pneumonia issues, try the charcoal trick but if that doesn't work then go the feed store and buy the antibiotic, it only takes a few days for a hog to go from well to dead with pneumonia (ask me how I know).

Bryant RedHawk wrote:AGH are prone to pneumonia issues, try the charcoal trick but if that doesn't work then go the feed store and buy the antibiotic, it only takes a few days for a hog to go from well to dead with pneumonia (ask me how I know).

She's been doing it since I got her in September. Still pneumonia as a possibility? We have antibiotics in the fridge so I could stab her in the butt right now if needed.

Interesting, we have a goat that coughs also. Since he was approx 2 months old, and he is 6 months at time of writing this, we had him 1 month before coughing started. He was supposed to be our alpha male for breeding and is an adorkable miniature nubian cross goat.
In the beginning his cough sounded vicious. We gave him oral vitamin C and extra attention (pats and snacks from our garden) and the cough lessened but never left. He is healthy in every other way, and the local goat expert vet (just by phone thankfully not a paid consult) advised to monitor the goat and if nothing else seems wrong basically disregard the coughing. Hmph. Also vet said vit C is produced by goats so dosing him would have done nothing to help, blah blah.
Good advice here about possibly not breeding him. I feel he may have snuffled something non edible/dissoluble as a young curious kid that may be stuck somewhere in the airway. Vet thought that this is possible but more likely an allergy, yeah well seasons have changed now so unlikely a plant allergy.

Elanor Pog wrote:Interesting, we have a goat that coughs also. Since he was approx 2 months old, and he is 6 months at time of writing this, we had him 1 month before coughing started. He was supposed to be our alpha male for breeding and is an adorkable miniature nubian cross goat.
In the beginning his cough sounded vicious. We gave him oral vitamin C and extra attention (pats and snacks from our garden) and the cough lessened but never left. He is healthy in every other way, and the local goat expert vet (just by phone thankfully not a paid consult) advised to monitor the goat and if nothing else seems wrong basically disregard the coughing. Hmph. Also vet said vit C is produced by goats so dosing him would have done nothing to help, blah blah.
Good advice here about possibly not breeding him. I feel he may have snuffled something non edible/dissoluble as a young curious kid that may be stuck somewhere in the airway. Vet thought that this is possible but more likely an allergy, yeah well seasons have changed now so unlikely a plant allergy.

My in laws have a dog allergic to people so..... maybe it's you LOL

The pig could have worms, it is coughing because the worms are moving from airways to stomach as part of its life cycle. If prolonged period of sporadic coughing with no major deterioration in condition consider worms. Easy to treat with antibiotics, either through medicated feed, water or a shot. If it is worms and it goes untreated it can build up the worm egg population in the soil, like I said before do some more reading/research about it.