Better Pork - December 2001

German farmers turn to homeopathic remedies

They can be much cheaper than conventional antibiotics. And, most important, they seem to work

by NORMAN DUNN

Homeopathic treatment of sick stock is described as alternative medicine by most vets in Europe. It is based on the premise of treating like with like. For instance, a disease is tackled by administrating a very low dose of a substance that causes the same or similar symptoms and, through this, the natural resistance of the animal is believed to be stimulated. A tiny dose of caffeine may be administered, for example, to treat high blood pressure.

Homeopathic treatments can be very cheap -- on one farm a course of Mastitis, Metritis, Agalactia (MMA) treatments cost the equivalent of 77 cents per sow. Using conventional antibiotics resulted in a bill for $11.50 per sow. Also, there's no evidence of any resistance build-up with homeopathic medicines. Because the active ingredient in every case is a natural substance, there are no legal waiting times between treatment and slaughter, unless very high doses are applied.

A last point in favour of homeopathic medicine with pigs is the telling one: it seems to work! At least this is the opinion of over 50 per cent of farmers who had used the concept. They were questioned last year in a survey by members of the agricultural sciences faculty of Osnabrück College in northwest Germany. The survey contacted 673 farmers, 41 per cent of them with pigs. More than a quarter (29 per cent) of all those questioned said they used homeopathic substances regularly for their animals. This use had increased steeply in the two years before the survey, especially by farmers with businesses up to 250 acres in size. Over half of those that used the alternative medicine stressed that they - and their vets - were convinced it had a healing effect.

There are even a few vets in northwest Germany - the region with the highest pig production in the country and with farm stocking averaging around 200 pigs per 100 acres - who use homeopathic treatments for the majority of cases in their practices. Dr. Jürgen Bader, an expert in this field, says that, in one district alone, he now knows of seven specialist groups of hog farmers who use homeopathic medicine in their herds. Each group has around 10 farmers and most have the equivalent of 200 to 300 sows. "The trend is definitely towards more interest in this concept," he adds.

The latest survey indicated that the homeopathic approach was used by farmers most (64 per cent of treatments) for treating MMA complex problems such as mastitis or sow fever after farrowing. This was followed by treatment for farrowing help and for swellings or wounds (both 21 per cent), for inducing heat (18 per cent) and for respiratory problems (17 per cent).

Most farmers and vets stress that this is no easy answer to present-day problems. Homeopathic treatments are complicated: there are 35 different substances for treating swine diarrhoea alone, depending on the specific type of diarrhoea, consistence, colour, general health of the animal and so on. Active ingredients are usually toxic and so are diluted to a very high degree of from 1:10 to 1:100 million, depending on the substance. Examples of the active ingredients used in Germany include aconite (for acute fever and inflammation), belladonna (bronchial problems), mercury (pneumonia), silicate (chronic lung infections) or lachesis (which is bushmaster snake venom and, unsurprisingly, is one of the substances used diluted in graduations up to 1:100 million) for fever.

Another specific popular amongst homeopathic pig vets is the pokeweed substance phytolacca which can either be used to expedite drying-off milk supply or, in greater dilution, for stimulating it instead, for instance after an MMA problem.

Dr. Bader relates that an important difficulty with the homeopathic approach is that the farmer and vet are called upon to do much more than simply treat the symptoms. "Part and parcel of the concept is that the root of the problem must be investigated in every case: the buildings, the ventilation, the outside temperature, water supply and so on."

Nor is the homeopathic way one for absolute fanatics. Dr Bader once said that homeopathic treatment could take care of most diseases. But, where an animal is suffering, "all veterinary approaches must be considered to relieve animals of pain or distress as quickly as possible." BP

© copyright 2001 AgMedia Co-operative Inc..

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Better Pork - December 2001

Take time to listen to your employees

Don't rush your communications. And, remember, communication proceeds only at the rate of the slowest listener

by RICHARD SMELSKI

I was sitting in a barn office with an owner of a larger operation, discussing who will end up managing these "larger operations," when the owner confessed that he was considering promoting one of two employees from his operation. One employee had 13 years experience and had operated his own farm prior to this. The other was younger and had worked for him for only three years.

At that very moment, the longer-service employee walked in and the owner asked him to check the number of sows in heat. Soon after, the employee came back and said there were 28 sows in heat. The owner asked how many of those were first-litter gilts and the employee left to check again.

We continued discussing whether the barn manager and breeding manager needed the same qualifications and if their pay scale should be similar. The barn manager needs people and communication skills, while the breeding manager needs patience, observation and a passion for animals. Both are highly valued sets of skills. Their pay scales are very dependent on each other. The employee returned and said there were only eight gilts and once again left to determine the number of AI services required for the week.

Meanwhile, the owner called in his younger promotional candidate and asked him to check how many sows were in heat. We continued discussing the actual heat checking procedure, the most critical stage of the operation as it requires continuous checking and rechecking. The heat checks that are outside the norm are where the focus needs to be. His younger employee came back and said "There are 28 sows in heat, eight gilts, three are purebred, so we will need 30 services for Thursday. And one sow needs to be treated for a foot infection." The owner thanked him and the employee went on to other business.

The next question is which of these two do you promote? The owner proceeded to state that there are people with one year's experience, 13 times, and there are people with 13 years' experience. The younger employee was promoted. The older employee quit.

Actually, this operation lost a very valuable employee because the owner did not take time to listen. The owner now spends more time, than before, training employees on communication skills, as well as the usual management skills. He confessed by saying, "I saw this operation grow from my Dad's small operation, always hands-on, and I never realized the different skill set I needed, especially with the last expansion and several new employees."

One cannot rush communications. The speed of communications proceeds only at the rate of the slowest listener, and not at the speed of a busy schedule. A scientific study showed that the impact of one's speech is determined seven per cent by the words we choose, 38 per cent by the tone and 47 per cent by our body gestures. Only 28 per cent of what you say is understood completely and 40 per cent is forgotten in 20 minutes.

This communication path is best demonstrated by Sir Winston Churchill's peace symbol gesture, which used no words but is remembered. And in spite of his wordiness, his most memorable speech was only 30 words long. BP
Richard Smelski is hog technical services manager for Agribrands Purina and a former Ontario government swine specialist.

© copyright 2001 AgMedia Co-operative Inc..

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