Pig medical care.

Hey yall, I am very new to the pig game. I have two kunekune boars who are about 5 months old. I was curious if anyone had any suggestions for any energency medical supplies I should have on hand for my two swine friends, like antibiotics or syringes etc.

Hi Alex; Welcome to permies! Yes , antibiotics and syringes should be on hand.  Inject-able antibiotic is available at any ranch store . Some aliments can be  treated  naturally without antibiotics, but always have them on hand.  The best way to check on the health of your piggys is to visit them everyday, you will quickly learn their behavior and  will know when your piggy is feeling down. In over 10 years I have only needed antibiotics 2 times... both times I believe I would have lost the pig by morning without them. Both times were when my vet was not available ! Be prepared, look on line to locate the exact spot to give a shot to a piggy, its a few inches behind their ear.  Intramuscular, straight in . When your piggy is sick she will just stand or lay there for the shot, or having her temp taken.   The other thing to have on hand is a digital thermometer,  yes it goes in rectal and your piggy will try to walk away once inserted...  it must be done... having doctor gloves on hand makes you feel slightly better about doing this... 102.5 is normal.  Once this thermometer has been used on a piggy, absolutely dedicate it to pig use only !!! NO other animal especially humans should use it.

Thanks Thomas! I do make sure to spend time with them every evening just to get a baseline for how they sound/look/act when they are healthy so that way I can spot anytging unusual that may come up. I plan on raising one to weight and then butchering. gonna keep the stud of the two and use him to breed with once I locate a female to purchase in the future. Whats your stance on de worming? I have heard alot of opposing views on whether or not to do it.

I feed my pigs 2%  Food Grade  Diatomaceous Earth mixed in with their grain.  about a 50# sack per 3000# grain.  If you are pasturing pigs rather than grain, it may be hard to get enough in them to do the job.  My pigs will eat it directly from my hand but the bulk gets mixed in to the feeder.

We use pumpkin seeds and squash seeds to worm our American Guinea Hogs, so far no problems where I would need to purchase a wormer.
We also feed them FGDE once a week in their supplemental feed.

I agree that you need access to an antibiotic, but if you are keeping them on good pasture and move them often, you should almost never need to use them.
The only time I've needed an antibiotic was when we had cold, wet followed by high heat, wet days. One of my sows came down with a cold and I had to give her three injections to clear her lungs.