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Show Pig Vaccination Schedule: The First 28 Days After Your Pig Comes Home
Your pigs are home. Start a TrueGlo product the day they step off the trailer, put TruePurple with Provilli or Triple R in the water for the first three days, then vaccinate on days 3, 7 and 28. If your pigs came from more than one farm, an online sale or a live sale, ignore any shots they had before and do the whole program.
This is the program I recommend for receiving show pigs. It helps your pigs get off to a great start and stay healthy. Go over it with your own veterinarian before the pigs arrive, since your vet knows what is going around in your area.
The show pig vaccination schedule, day by day
Count the days from the day your pigs come home.
| Day | What to give | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| Arrival | Start a TrueGlo product (TrueGlo, TrueGlo CR or TrueGlo Turbo), fed every day | To support his immune system and improve the response to vaccines |
| First three days | TruePurple with Provilli (1 ounce of Provilli per quart of TruePurple) in the drinking water. Or Triple R in the water: Triple R Drench if you hand water, Triple R Concentrate through your proportioner | Getting him drinking and eating after the trip |
| Day 3 | Ingelvac 3FLEX: CircoFLEX, MycoFLEX and Ingelvac PRRS MLV, given as one shot | Circovirus (PCV2), Mycoplasma pneumonia and PRRS |
| Day 7 | FluSure XP/ER Bac Plus and Porcilis Ileitis, two separate shots | Swine flu and erysipelas. Ileitis |
| Day 28 | Repeat FluSure XP | Swine flu |
The links for the vaccines are current at the time of this writing and are all for JRG Supply. We are customers of JRG but we do not have any other business relationship with them. The links are merely for your convenience. If a vaccine link shows sold out, ask your veterinarian where to get it.
Day 28 is the flu booster, three weeks after the first flu shot on day 7.
To print the schedule for the barn wall, download the vaccine program as a document.
What each vaccine protects against
- Circovirus (PCV2). A virus that causes wasting in growing pigs. He gets thin and falls behind his pen mates.
- Mycoplasma (Myco). The cause of enzootic pneumonia, a dry cough that hangs on and slows his gain.
- PRRS. A virus that attacks the immune cells in the lungs, causing respiratory disease and slow growth.
- Swine flu. Fever, coughing, and a whole pen that goes off feed at once.
- Erysipelas. A bacterial disease with a high fever, a pig that does not want to get up, and raised, diamond-shaped patches on the skin.
- Ileitis. An infection of the small intestine that causes loose manure and poor gains.
Why mixed pigs get the whole program
If your pigs came from one farm and rode home with no other pigs, the breeder’s vaccination program can count toward this one. Ask the breeder what was given and when, and go over it with your veterinarian.
If your pigs came from more than one farm, an online sale or a live sale, ignore any earlier vaccinations and do the whole program.
- Germs: pigs from different farms carry different germs. Once they share a trailer or a sale barn, each pig meets germs he has never been around.
- Online sales: a pig from an online sale may come from one farm and still ride home on a hauler’s trailer with pigs from several. That counts as mixed.
If your pigs were mixed with other pigs on the way home, they get the whole program.
The first three days come first
A move is hard on a pig: the haul, a strange pen, new water and new feed. Many pigs drink and eat less for a few days. So the first job is getting him drinking and eating, and the first shots come on day 3.
TrueGlo, starting on day one
Start one of our TrueGlo products to support his immune system and improve the response to vaccines. Anything with TrueGlo in the name is built on PreVent, a feed-grade immune modulator covered by US Patent 11,844,810.
For a pig coming off the trailer, use TrueGlo, TrueGlo CR or TrueGlo Turbo. You only need one. The TrueGlo page shows them side by side.
TruePurple and Provilli, or Triple R
Use one of these in the water for the first three days.
- TruePurple with Provilli. TruePurple is an acidified electrolyte made for pigs. Add 1 ounce of Provilli to each quart of TruePurple, then mix it into the drinking water the same way you use TruePurple alone. It goes in the water, never straight. Our post on the TruePurple and Provilli protocol explains why the two go together.
- Triple R. If you hand water, use Triple R Drench. If you run a proportioner, use Triple R Concentrate. Follow the label for the amount.
Work with your veterinarian on the shots
Take this schedule to your veterinarian before your pigs come home and ask:
- Whether they want anything changed for your area.
- Where to get the vaccines, and whether they will give the shots or show you how.
- The withdrawal time on each vaccine before harvest.
- What to do if a pig is sick on a shot day.
A few handling basics:
- Keep vaccines cold, never frozen.
- Give the shots in the neck, just behind and below the ear, never in the ham or loin. It is the same spot YQCA training teaches.
- Match the needle to the pig. The PQA chart in our show pig medicine cabinet post is a good guide.
- On day 7, put the two shots on opposite sides of the neck.
- Never put a used needle back into a bottle.
After each round, put your eyes on your pigs at the next feedings, the same twice-a-day check you already do at chores. If a pig goes down or breathes hard right after a shot, call your veterinarian right away.
Questions about the program
If you have any questions about the vaccinations for receiving show pigs please give us a call at 888.603.2459. We are here to help!
If you would like to download the vaccine program as a document this is the link.
More for show pig families:
- How often to deworm a show pig
- What you need in your show pig medicine cabinet
- The TruePurple and Provilli protocol
- Keeping a show gilt to farrow
Show pig vaccination questions
What vaccines does a show pig need? In the program I recommend for receiving show pigs, he is vaccinated against circovirus (PCV2), Mycoplasma, PRRS, swine flu, erysipelas and ileitis. Those come as Ingelvac 3FLEX, FluSure XP/ER Bac Plus and Porcilis Ileitis, with FluSure XP repeated three weeks after the first flu shot. Go over the list with your veterinarian, who may adjust it for your area.
When do you vaccinate a show pig after you bring him home? On days 3, 7 and 28 after he comes home. Before the first shot, start a TrueGlo product the day he arrives and use TruePurple with Provilli or Triple R in his water for the first three days, so he is drinking and eating before day 3.
Does a pig from one farm need the whole program? Not always. If he came from one farm and rode home with no other pigs, the breeder’s vaccinations can count toward this program. Ask the breeder what was given and go over it with your veterinarian. If your pigs came from more than one farm, an online sale or a live sale, ignore any earlier vaccinations and do the whole program.
Do I need a veterinarian to vaccinate my show pig? You should work with one. Your vet can adjust the program for your area, tell you where to get the vaccines, and show you how to give the shots in the right spot, which is the neck, never the ham.
Is the vaccination schedule different for a show gilt? Not when she comes home. Gilts and barrows get the same receiving program. If you plan to keep your gilt and breed her after the show season, she needs more vaccines later. I cover that in our post on keeping a show gilt to farrow.
Can I get the schedule as a printable sheet? Yes. The whole program is in a Google Doc you can print for the barn wall, linked above. If you have questions about it, call us at 888.603.2459.