The Rural Voice, 1983-10, Page 47blem in your barn it is important first
of all, to get an accurate diagnosis of
the cause of the problem. Then, plan
an attack on the problem, remember-
ing that no one drug or vaccine will
do it all for you. The job may seem
large at first but the results will usual-
ly justify the effort in the end.❑
Catherine Templeton D. V.M. works
at the Listowel Veterinary Clinic.
Fall abortions
in sows
The response I have received since
my announcement of sharp increases
in abortions in sows during the fall
months - September, October and
especially November has been simply
overwhelming. It is quite clear that
many other producers and veterinary
practitioners right across Canada and
in at least many of the Northern
States in the U.S. are seeing a similar
pattern of fall abortions. Briefly, the
problem centres around abortions in
sows of all ages, usually in late gesta-
tion during the fall months. The
aborting sows are healthy pre and
post abortion and all laboratory tests
fail to identify any diseases causing
the abortions. The abortions occur
singly or more frequently in storms
over several days or weeks. They
often coincide with marked fluctua-
tions in environmental temperatures
especially cold nights (-0°C) after
mild or warm days (10-20°C).
One correspondence was par-
ticularly elucidating however. Dr.
Tony Wrathall, from the Central
Veterinary Laboratory, Surrey,
England wrote and sent me a copy of
a paper he was just about to go to
Mexico to present at the International
Pig Veterinary Society Meeting. He
pointed out that the same problem
was being observed in England and
other parts of Europe. He, however,
had been measuring the levels of
female sexual hormones in the blood
of sows of all ages. His findings were
that these hormones (progesterone
especially) dropped off in the late
summer and fall, paralleling the
decline in number of available
daylight hours. Progesterone is need-
ed to maintain pregnancy.
Thus in addition to raising barn
temperatures and giving more feed
(energy), another preventive techni-
que is to increase the artificial lighting
to all pregnant sows during the late
summer and fall months.❑
Written by S. Ernest Sanford,
D. V.M., Dip. Path., Diplomate
A.C. V.P., Veterinary Pathologist.
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THE RURAL VOICE, OCTOBER 1981 PG 45