44 The Business of Canadian Hog Farming Better Pork | June 2024 GET TO KNOW MCREBEL LITE Crispy, delicious, but above all else, healthy and nutritious pork. By Jack Krone HERD HEALTH No, this is not an advertisement for a new pork burger, though the name McREBEL does call to mind a certain restaurant chain. McREBEL is short for “Management Changes for Reduced Exposure to Bacteria to Eliminate Losses from PRRS.” It is a concept that was first introduced in 2000 and has become a well-established means to ensure the health and well-being of pigs in the face of disease challenges and in everyday production. McREBEL Lite is a slightly softened version often tailored to suit an individual farm’s needs by the veterinarian making the recommendations. The best part of this story, though, is that you are likely already employing McREBEL techniques to some degree in your barn. Viral infections such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), rotavirus, influenza A virus, parvovirus, etc. pose challenges to most, if not all, pig production facilities. Since antibiotics do not work on viruses, viral diseases are difficult to treat directly. They have major effects on production through increased mortality and decreased reproduction and growth. They also often lead to secondary bacterial infections that can worsen the situation. We aim to prevent these infections with a multipronged approach, including external biosecurity to keep new pathogens out of the barn, internal biosecurity to stop those already in the barn from spreading further, good nutrition and low-stress handling to ensure pigs’ immune systems are not compromised – and of course vaccines where available. McREBEL Lite is an opportunity to assess and enhance some of these existing tools. As a veterinarian, I have seen first-hand the positive effects of McREBEL Lite. A client was experiencing PRRS destabilization in the sow barn, which was causing issues for downstream nurseries and major production losses. Coupled with the unfortunate loss of RNA porcine circovirus 3 (PCV3) and rotaviral vaccines in Canada, there was a pressing need to reduce viral exposure in the barns. McREBEL Lite focuses on internal biosecurity practices to do just that, as well as minimize the possibility of secondary bacterial infections. Within weeks of implementing McREBEL Lite, we were seeing reduced infection rates, with only weak positive results on few pigs in one of the affected barns. At the same time, we have seen a large reduction in the number of scouring litters, and a higher quality of pig weaned. At this point, you’d probably like to know what exactly McREBEL Lite is and how you can get started. The key components of McREBEL Lite are: Maximizing piglets left on their own sow, and only fostering piglets with a high chance of survival. This requires managing small piglets within their own litter and implementing strict criteria for euthanizing piglets, especially unthrifty and non-recovering individuals. Hygienic processing: Ensuring thorough disinfection of processing equipment, changing needles and scalpel blades, and implementing hygiene protocols for personnel moving between litters and age groups to reduce contamination. Implementing all-in, all-out management in the farrowing room and at the nursery. This requires no holdbacks to be allowed at weaning. Put simply, McREBEL Lite means going back to the basics of pig production and doing them really well. Ensuring that viable piglets are born into clean environments, processed cleanly, and handled as little as possible, whilst removing non-viable pigs immediately. These are things that your farm may be doing already. However, these crucial steps are often not done as well as they could be due to perceived time constraints, improper training, or lack of understanding of their importance. Your herd veterinary team can be an invaluable resource Jack Krone photo Squeaky-clean processing cart.
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