Swine
Four Star Veterinary Service offers a wide range of services for all clients, including commercial farms, show pigs and more. Our focus is on the health and welfare of all animals under our care.
Services used to help our clients be successful include:
Pork Quality Assurance and PQA site assessments — All of our veterinarians are trained to conduct PQA Plus and PQA Plus site assessments for certification.
Audit preparation and readiness — Four Star can help you prepare for the Common Swine Industry Audit. We will work together to develop standard operating procedures, protocols and training programs needed for your farm. We can perform mock audits to identify areas of opportunity prior to your farm’s audit.
Biosecurity management — Biosecurity is of utmost importance in today’s swine industry. Four Star veterinarians can help develop the proper biosecurity protocols for your farm or system. We can conduct biosecurity audits to assess implementation of current protocols and determine biosecurity risks that need to be addressed.
Health monitoring and disease surveillance — Your Four Star veterinarian will develop a health surveillance program that is proper for your farm to ensure that any changes in health status are identified promptly. We often train production managers or farm staff to collect and submit these samples directly to the laboratory.
Boar-stud oversight — Boar studs have a unique purpose in the swine industry and require specialized oversight and advice. Four Star veterinarians understand the business of boar studs. We can implement disease surveillance testing, oversee and evaluate semen quality testing and audit biosecurity practices to protect your stud and your clients’ farms.
Export testing and inspections — We routinely perform regulatory testing and prepare proper Certificates of Veterinary Inspection for interstate and international shipments of pigs.
Mortality analysis — Our veterinarians can conduct comprehensive evaluations of elevated death losses at any production stage. With a combination of records analysis and site visits, we can help pinpoint the cause of elevated losses and develop solutions.
Production records analysis — We have experience with all major production recordkeeping programs. We use this data to help clients identify areas of opportunity, track success and become more efficient.
Disease diagnosis and management — Our veterinarians have decades of experience diagnosing health problems and developing practical, responsible, cost-effective programs for short- and long-term disease prevention, control and treatment.
Sow housing systems — We are familiar with all contemporary sow housing systems. Our veterinarians can help determine the best system for a farm or help troubleshoot issues when they arise.
Batch farrowing — Batch farrowing is being used more frequently on ever larger farms to improve health, efficiency and pig flow. Our veterinarians are well versed in all types of batch farrowing systems. We can help you determine what system is right for you, facilitate transition from weekly to batch farrowing and work with farm staff to understand how to properly manage group integrity in a batch farrowing system.
Niche production systems — Many farms have opportunities to improve return if they can market pigs into niche programs. Four Star veterinarians have extensive experience with antibiotic-free and organic production. We can help you determine if these opportunities are right for your farm and develop protocols to succeed within your marketing program.
Slaughter inspections — Our veterinarians routinely conduct slaughter inspections at several slaughter facilities across the Midwest and Northeast to help monitor disease pressure in finishing flows.
Disease eradication plans — Our team has decades of experience eliminating individual diseases from farms. We can work with you to determine the cost/benefit of disease eradication and create a customized eradication program for your situation. Our veterinarians have helped with hundreds of disease eradications for PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome), PED (porcine epidemic virus), PDCOV (porcine delta coronavirus), TGE (transmissible gastro enteritis), IAV (influenza A virus), mycoplasma and APP (actinobacillus pleuropneumonia).
Surgeries — We conduct specialized surgeries for swine including vasectomies, cryptorchid repairs, umbilical hernia repairs, Cesarean sections and other surgeries.
Employee Training and Development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) — Our veterinarians can help develop site-specific SOPs and provide employee training to implement those protocols and achieve a high level of animal care.
Vaccination programs — Our team can provide customized vaccination programs for commercial and show-pig herds from breeding through finishing.
Nutritional review and oversight — We will work with feed companies and nutritionists to make sure the nutritional needs of your herd are met with cost-effective diets.
Ventilation set up and troubleshooting — Our veterinarians understand the principles of power ventilation and the unique ventilation needs of pigs. We can evaluate your ventilation system, identify problems, suggest adjustments and work with your equipment supplier to implement solutions.
Pig flow analysis — Our team will analyze bottlenecks in production to help clients maximize the number of pigs moved through a system in the most cost-effective way.
Biomedical research — We have developed the expertise to work with biomedical research facilities on their management and welfare procedures for handling research pigs. We also work with farms supplying pigs for the research.
4-H/show-pig health protocols and surgeries — We understand the passion of 4-H and show-pig producers and will help maintain high health standards for these animals. We offer specialized treatments including corrective surgeries and laser therapy for lameness.
Pet/pot-bellied pigs — Several of our veterinarians offer regular care and surgeries for pot-bellied and miniature pigs.