How can we tell when our pigs are healthy?

摘要

It is a simple enough question. Surely, pigs are healthy if they are not affected by disease. But is it that easy? How sure are we that we can diagnose disease with such certainty that this uncomplicated definition of 'healthy' will be adequate? A completely different, but rather more pragmatic, approach would be to declare pigs healthy if their producer makes a profit when they are sold for slaughter or for breeding. You see - we are already on a slippery slope, trying to define 'healthy' to fit inwith our existing requirements and preconceptions. However, when we try to define it there are very many factors which contribute to the health of a pig. In this article, we will cover a number of these variables. And with the increasing level of competition, countrywide and internationally, we may find that a definition of 'healthy' we once found acceptable, might well not be good enough for the future.