State and prospect of application immunocorrection therapy in castration of piglets and 5‐month‐old boars in pig breeding farm
Authors: Plemyashov Kirill , Reshetnyak Vladimir , Stekolnikov Alexander , Burdeyniy Vasilii 
Published: May 2022

One of the most widespread surgical interventions is the castration of piglets and 5‐month‐old boars without breeding selection being a criterion in conditions of intensive development of the pig breeding industry. This work aims to use immunocorrection therapy, methods and system of their use, technological simplicity, and efficiency in boars castration in the pig breeding industry.

The research was done with the help of the pig breeding industrial complex and Kostroma State Agricultural Academy. 87 hybrid boars at the age of 5 months (F1) were used. In total, two cycles of experiments were carried out. For the first cycle, 49 animals were divided into 7 groups (n=7) to define the effectiveness of using different methods and schemes of immunocorrection therapy in post‐castration complications and its impact on product indicators. In the second cycle of the research, performance indicators of pig‐meat production were studied on the control group (n = 9) and experimental group (n = 29) of boars by using the best immunocorrection therapy according to the first cycle of the research.

Thymogen injection is a synthetic immunomodulatory dipeptide, an analog of one of the thymus hormones. Ribav (mycovit) is a natural origin alcohol‐based drug for local use immunocorrectors. Both immunocorrectors were used for the research.

Research results: decrease of complications with an open surgical way of castration in the experimental group on 28,57% (control group 57,14%) especially in the group treated with thymogen and Ribav in post castration time; similar results were received considering local reactions as hyperemia and less edema; the same indicators were higher than in the control group at the closed technique of castration. It can be caused by an immune reaction to suture material ‐ Polycon; Ribav was more effective at the open technique of castration than at closed, which is explained by the accessibility of local wound treatment; the average daily gain in live weight in the groups treated with thymogen and Ribav was 0.551 ± 0.13 and 0.618 ± 0.09 versus 0.406 ± 0.04 kg in control, meat yield rate 77.0 ± 0.58 and 76.40 ± 0, 29 versus 76.85 ± 0.14 in control with 85.71% safety in the experimental groups versus 81.43% in control.

Thus, Thymogen is preferable according to its manufacturability and cost indicators.

In the second cycle of experiments with its use, the gain in live weight exceeded the indicators of the control group by 18.6% without significant differences in meat on the bone and its yield. At the same time, it should be noted that the safety of the livestock, as in the first series of experiments, was 7.6% higher in the experimental group (96.55 versus 88.89%).

Thus, thymogen post castration injections or Ribav (mukovit) local irrigation treatment with a five‐day course at a postoperative period reduce the risk of post castration complications on 14,28 ‒ 28,57% in the condition of pig breeding intensification, reduce emersion of local reactions, increases the safety among 5‐month‐old boars by 14.28 ‐ 28.57%.

As a result, it is better to use treatment schemes based on using Ribave with the closed technique of castration on small pig farms when personal care is possible.