giving a hog a shot

well my project has turned and bit me (so to speak) I just moved my dads #450 + hog to my place and had her bread. the boar evidently had a respiratory infection. He was coughing when we unloaded him. I thought it was due to the move. Now my sow is coughing and the vet said it is a resp. infection. I have to give her a shot in her flank and have never done this before. Any suggestions or instructions to help me locate the best place in the flank. She is pretty tame as I pet her daily and when I give her a shot I would hate for her to (turn and bite me)

Probably best to confine her in some sort of a chute. Find a muscle on the hind quarter where you can get needle in, and go into muscle at an angle. After shot rub the area to distribute medicine. Are you going to have to repeat this several doses? she'll get a little gun-shy real quick. We have a goat that has been twice daily for over two weeks. She's not a happy goat.

I's a whole lot easier than giving a pill to a cat. A farrowing stall would work well, or a squeeze chute of some sort. You've got to be able to hold her still when she realizes that you're that pain in her rear.

She's probably just snorting mad because you took her bread away. Give her a few loaves of day old and while she roots them around jab her in the butt.

If your hog sleeps soundly it can be done then. I gave a boar a shot once while it was sleeping at night. Had to quietly come up from behind and slowly insert the needle and give the shot. He flinched slightly, but never woke up. If you have help you can also take some feed and throw it into a corner and use a small gate and trap the hog momentarily against a wall while the other person quickly makes the injection. It all depends on how the hog responds and how good you are at keeping the situation as calm as possible. You don't want to give the shot to a hog that is panicking and end up breaking off a needle in it. Of the two methods it is always easier to give the shot to a hog that is off its feet than one that is up and moving.

I would give her the shot in the loose folds of the neck ,just behind the ears. Its too easy to break a needle off when shooting in a major muscle. Then you run the risk of having the carcase rejected. Restrain her with a snare.

Pull a 5-gallon bucket up over her head, which is gonna make her want to back up. Back her into a fence corner and give her the shot behind her ear like MSB says.

The trouble with a snout catch is that she's gonna be fighting that snare and ya won't be able to get her to stand still for any length of time.

Allan

Was that whole wheat, rye, or white bread?

If it is anything like giving a shot to a jumpy horse, rap on the spot with your knuckle or fist a few times to get them used to you doing something there. After they are used to it and relax(or not), give the shot. After the thumping, they don't feel or notice the puncture wound of the needle so bad and its not a surprise. Sometimes we remove the needle from the syringe and just stab the needle. Then pull it back a little if you happen to hit a vein and blood comes out. Insert the syringe and give the shot. Works well when giving more than one shot at a time. Horses are smart enough to know what a syringe looks like so it doesn't pay to wave one in its face. It's always nice to have a helper.

Only question I'd have is does it take a different size needle with a neck shot than a flank shot?

You are getting worried about nothing. Just rub her behind the ear with your hand and she won't even notice it. If you get her riled up with a snout noose it is going to be harder.
Much easier to use a pail over the head method like Allen said. Works great until they sit down.

The best way to give them a shot is to do it when they are eating. I use a pistol grip syring with a thing on it called "slap shot". This is a rubber hose about a foot long that goes between the syring and needle. With "slap shot" you can walk up to the animal and insert the needle and inject the antiboitic, easy. I use it all the time for my livestock don't know if they make it any more. Give the shot behind the ear not the flank. Giving a shot in the flank is a good way to break a needle! Be sure to use a needle that is big enough around so it doesn't break and rub the area after the injection. Good luck and the sow won't remember the shot if it is as sick as you say.

For horses, yes. Most vaccinations are given in the neck for horses. Mine never give any trouble at all when I give injections in the neck. Don't thump if giving the injection in the neck. The needle for neck injections should only be about 1" and a small diameter, generally a 22 or 20. Most horse vaccinations are small in quantity, only a couple of cc's.

Injections given in the hip area are for heavier, thicker medications in much larger quantities, such as penicillin.

Remove the needle from the syringe, thump the area a couple of times, if the horse will tolerate that, and insert the needle quickly. Count to 2, if any blood comes out, remove and dispose of the needle. Get a fresh needle, repeat the above and insert in a new location. Again, count to 2, if no blood, attach syringe. Pull back on the plunger (a second check to make sure you have not hit a vein or artery). If no blood, inject the medication.

As you remove the syringe & needle, place your finger over the injection site and press for a few seconds. When giving large quantities of medication (20+cc's) if you don't cover the injection site for a few seconds, the medication can ooze out.

I gave hundreds of sows shots by walking alongside them and shooting behind the ear on the side away from you. Usually the if they do react its towards the shot and away from you. Use a good quality nylon syringe with big handles not a cheap throw away one. Lee

Never give a shot in a major muscle unless you want your packer to refuse buying your livestock. They are very unhappy with a carcass that has needle abcesses in the ham and loin areas. The neck for cattle, behind the ears for hogs.
Joe

(quoted from post at 10:13:14 05/01/09) well my project has turned and bit me (so to speak) I just moved my dads #450 + hog to my place and had her bread. the boar evidently had a respiratory infection. He was coughing when we unloaded him. I thought it was due to the move. Now my sow is coughing and the vet said it is a resp. infection. I have to give her a shot in her flank and have never done this before. Any suggestions or instructions to help me locate the best place in the flank. She is pretty tame as I pet her daily and when I give her a shot I would hate for her to (turn and bite me)

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a 450# hog with a bucket over her head. I can't see anything going wrong with that. Rememinds me of a time I watched 3 - 250# men try to corral a hog with a 20' ladder. Pretty much the hog stuck his nose in the rungs and took off.

we tried the bucket thing when we loaded her brother it was like he knew what was about to happen he politely said "I don't need to see the butcher" and pushed his way through that.

this is for me and the vet told me the best place was in the flank so I followed his advice. thanks for the heads up anyway on the packer buying issue.

Well, sorry Allen and others, I dont like the bucket over the head deal. They are trying to go away from you and it's just tough. Behind the ear is subcutaneous. If you want to give a shot IM, Intramuscular, in the ham, I like to have a helper. You have a solid gate or wall, then double wire a wooden panel or some sort of gate so as to create a V. Run them head first into the V, have the helper hold the panel shut, then you come right in behind them. I like to get my left leg right in behind them, then give them the shot real quick with my right hand. I am right handed.

Do it quick and fast. Dont be timid and dont worry about hurting them. You cannot hurt a pig that size.

Good luck Gene