TNT Appetite Rescue for Show Pigs

Description

For the pig that is picking, not the one that quit

He ate fine at home

He cleaned up every feeding in his own pen. Then he rode in a trailer, landed in a strange barn with different water and a lot of noise, and now it is show week and there is feed left in the feeder at the night check.

Every family has a list for this. Wet the feed down. Add a little yogurt. Skip a meal so he comes in hungry. Try whatever worked on somebody else’s pig. Some of it works for a day or two.

What nobody hands you with the list is the reason he backed off. Without the reason, you are guessing which trick fits.

Why a stressed pig backs off his feed

Most of the time it is not the feed. It is what the last few days did to him.

A haul takes water and electrolytes out of a pig. So does a hot barn, and a pig barely sweats, so he loses it breathing hard instead. A pig running short on sodium, potassium and magnesium is not going to feel like eating, and he cannot tell you why.

Then there is his stomach. A pig’s stomach keeps making acid whether there is feed in it or not, and feed is part of what keeps that acid in check. Work out of Canada on off feed events found that roughly 80 percent of otherwise healthy pigs that go off feed for 24 hours develop a stomach ulcer, and by 48 hours it is close to all of them. So a day of picking is not just lost ground. It can start a second problem that keeps him off feed longer than the first one did.

And the vitamins. A pig makes none of his own B12. It comes in with his feed, so a pig eating half his ration is getting about half his B12.

What we built, and why it smells the way it does

Pull the seal and smell it. Sweet comes first, vanilla, and there is something savory underneath. That order is on purpose. The sweet gets his nose into the feeder, and the savory gives him a reason to keep eating.

Flavor by itself was never going to fix a pig that is short on electrolytes with an empty stomach, and we did not build it to. The flavor is there so it gets eaten. The rest of the jar is there for the reasons he backed off: the electrolytes the trailer took, a buffer for his stomach, magnesium at a real level, and the B vitamins he quit getting when he quit cleaning up his feed.

What is in it, and what each part is doing

• Electrolytes: sodium, potassium and magnesium. Salt, a potassium amino acid complex and magnesium amino acid chelate. These are the minerals a haul and a hot barn pull out of him. Magnesium is in here at 2.5 percent minimum, because nerves and muscles run on it.
• Sodium bicarbonate. A buffer for his stomach.
• Dextrose. Sweet, and quick energy for a pig that has not been eating his share.
• Spray-dried bovine plasma. A protein swine nutritionists have used for years in the feed pigs are slowest to eat, the first ration after weaning. It is bovine, not pork.
• Monosodium glutamate and yucca extract. The savory side. Yucca also helps bind ammonia.
• A fermentation product (dried Corynebacterium glutamicum fermentation biomass). A source of amino acids and nucleotides.
• Betaine. Helps his cells hold onto their water through heat and stress.
• Zinc, amino acid chelated. Zinc comes in with feed, so a pig eating less is getting less of it.
• Niacin and vitamin B12. Two B vitamins that come in with feed. He makes no B12 of his own.
• Vanilla and sweetener. The top note.

No drugs. No withdrawal time.

Guaranteed analysis: Crude Protein min 7.0%. Crude Fat min 0.5%. Crude Fiber max 2.0%. Moisture max 8.0%. Salt (NaCl) min 3.7%, max 4.3%. Sodium (Na) min 3.2%. Potassium (K) min 1.5%. Magnesium (Mg) min 2.5%. Zinc (Zn) min 4,000 ppm. Betaine min 5.0%. Niacin min 1,290 mg/lb. Vitamin B12 min 32,000 mcg/lb.

Ingredients: Dextrose, Magnesium Amino Acid Chelate, Dried Corynebacterium glutamicum Fermentation Biomass, Potassium Amino Acid Complex, Monosodium Glutamate, Betaine Anhydrous, Salt, Sodium Bicarbonate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Spray-Dried Bovine Plasma, Silicon Dioxide, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Niacin, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Saccharin, Vitamin B12 Supplement.

How to use it

Top-dress it on his normal feed, once a day, using the 1 oz scoop that comes in the jar. Give him free access to clean, fresh water the whole time.

• Show week, a haul, or any stress stretch: 1 scoop (1 oz, 28 g) once a day.
• Picking at his feed: 2 scoops (2 oz, 56 g) once a day for up to 3 days, then back to 1 scoop.

Those amounts are for a pig 220 to 290 pounds. For a smaller pig, cut it in proportion, so a pig about half that size gets about half a scoop. Do not go over the amount on the label.

One 1 lb jar holds about 16 daily doses.

For show and market swine only.

Picturing pigs

When you are picturing pigs, a lot of us use something with flavor on a stick or a bottle so he follows it and stands right for the picture. Appetite Rescue fits right into that. The sweet smell that gets a picky pig’s nose into the feeder is the same smell that gets him following the stick.

Whether you are picturing pigs for sale or picturing him at the backdrop, keep a jar in the show box.

When a top-dress is the wrong tool

I would rather lose a sale than have you expect the wrong thing from this jar.

A top-dress only works on a pig that is still eating something. If he will not touch anything you put in front of him, this jar cannot help him, because it is sitting on feed he is walking away from. That pig needs something that goes in by mouth, like Triple R Drench, and he needs his temperature taken.

Appetite Rescue is a supplement. It is not a treatment and it does not cure anything. If he is running a fever, if he is down, if he will not get up or drink, if he is vomiting, or if anything looks wrong beyond a slow appetite, call your veterinarian. Some of what puts a pig off feed needs a diagnosis you cannot make from outside the pen. Early beats late, every time.

Where it fits with TrueGlo and Triple R

People ask how this lines up with what they already feed. Short version: TrueGlo holds him on feed every day, Appetite Rescue is for the days he starts picking, and Triple R is for the pig that has quit.

They are not competing with each other. They cover different days.

Price, size, and how we handle it if it does not work out

$32 for a 1 lb jar, about 16 daily doses, which works out to $2 a day at the daily rate. A 1 oz scoop comes in the jar. Ships free.

If it does not do what you expected, tell us and we will make it right. You will not have to ship anything back. Call and ask for Doc.

FAQ: Appetite Rescue

My pig has quit eating completely. Will this help?
Not on its own. A top-dress needs a pig that is eating something. Take his temperature, call your vet if anything beyond appetite looks wrong, and use something that goes in by mouth, like Triple R Drench. Once he is picking at feed again, Appetite Rescue has a job.

Can I feed it every day?
Yes, through show week, a haul, or a stress stretch, at the daily rate on the label. The higher rate for a pig that is picking runs up to three days, then back to the daily rate.

Does it have a withdrawal time?
No. There are no drugs in it, and every ingredient is a feed ingredient.

Can I use it with TrueGlo or TrueGlo Turbo?
Yes. They do different jobs. TrueGlo is the daily gut program that holds him on feed all season. Appetite Rescue is the top-dress for show week and the days he starts picking.

Can I use it when I am picturing pigs?
Yes. A little on a stick or a bottle gives him something worth following, so he stands right for the picture. Keep a jar in the show box for sale pictures and for the backdrop.

Can I give it to my lambs, goats or steers?
No. It is labeled for show and market swine only. For lambs, goats and cattle, start with TrueGlo.

How long does a jar last?
About 16 days at the daily rate on a 220 to 290 pound pig. A three day run at the higher rate uses about 6 ounces of the jar.