Quality assurance of high value breeding stock
On farm issues with umbilical outpouching (OU), often referred to in literature as umbilical hernia, might indicate that it is time to focus on best management practice within the farrowing and piglet units. In 2002 Vestergaard & Wachmann showed that it is possible to reduce the development of UH in pigs significantly.
Across the world UO can be a problem regardless of genetics, which clearly indicates that UO is primarily caused by external factors – such as poor pen hygiene and incorrect pig handling. That said, DanBred breeding animals are all systematically selected to eliminate UO as well as any other malformations.
A breeding animal which does not meet the DanBred selection standards is immediately removed, to continuously ensure the high value of DanBred breeding animals. The strategy of this approach is to reduce and or eliminate the prevalence of defects in all DanBred genetics.
What is an umbilical outpouching
A bulge near the belly button can have many causes. It can be a true hernia (UH), abscesses, scar tissue or cysts. All of which, will look alike when visually examining the pig.
A bulge caused by UH will occur if the abdominal connective tissue fails to close around the umbilical ring (navel), thus allowing the intestines to protrude through the abdominal wall. The majority of UH are related to inflammation due to infection of the umbilical cord, caused by poor environmental and hygiene conditions. Furthermore, the handling of the piglets, as well as the practice around treatments administered, seems to be of some importance. Bacterial infection and incorrect handling of the young piglet are also the cause of the other conditions diagnosed as an umbilical outpouching.
For these reasons there is variance in the occurrence of UO between herds. Even though UO worldwide leads to losses by reduction of the potential profit, surprisingly few randomised trials has evaluated the effect of management on the occurrences of UO in a professional pig production set up. A Danish trial by Vestergaard & Wachmann (2002) showed that by spraying the umbilical cord with a 5% iodine-alcohol solution within 24 hours after birth, the occurrence of UO was reduced around 25%. Furthermore, this trial showed that preventive treatment with antibiotic within 24 hours after birth reduced the occurrence by 33%. This indicates that it is possible to maintain a continuously low prevalence of UO among high value piglets by focusing on the management of the piglets.