Chlortetracycline has a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity, good efficacy, low cost, and high safety, making it widely used in feed mills but less commonly used on farms. Adding tetracycline to pig feed can improve the reproductive performance of sows, enhance the performance of commercial pigs, and control diarrhea in pigs. It is the first-choice drug for health care and disease prevention in pig farms.

Today, let's discuss how to use tetracycline on farms and share some experiences:

Chlortetracycline premix is a brown or brownish powder or granule and belongs to the tetracycline class of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Apart from acting on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, it also has inhibitory effects on rickettsiae, chlamydiae, mycoplasmas, spirochetes, actinomycetes, and certain protozoa. It is used for promoting growth in broilers and piglets, treating diarrhea in weaned piglets, and treating swine dysentery and proliferative enteritis.

Mechanism of Action

This class of drugs is a fast-acting bacteriostatic agent. After entering the bacterial cell, it reversibly binds to the receptor on the 30S subunit of the bacterial ribosome, interferes with the binding of tRNA to the mRNA-ribosome complex, inhibits peptide chain elongation, and thereby inhibits protein synthesis, leading to rapid inhibition of bacterial growth and reproduction.

There are two main pathways for tetracycline to enter cells: one is through passive diffusion of the hydrophilic group of the outer cell membrane, and the other is by active transport through the inner cell membrane.

Indications

1. Diarrhea caused by Escherichia coli or Salmonella, such as yellow and white scours in piglets and white scours in chicks.

2. Porcine pleuropneumonia and avian cholera caused by Pasteurella multocida.

3. Control of proliferative enteritis (ileitis) caused by intracellular Lawsonia intracellularis.

4. Control of leptospirosis caused by Brucella pomona (reducing the occurrence of abortion and shedding of Brucella pomona).

5. Reduction of the occurrence of cervical lymphadenitis (lump jaw) caused by Group E streptococci.

6. Swine asthma and chronic respiratory disease in chickens caused by Mycoplasma.

Recommended Usage in Farms

1. Feeding reduction:

   Dosage: 2kg of tetracycline per ton of feed, once a month, used continuously for 7-14 days for the entire farm.

   Significance: Significant increase in feed intake; prevention is better than cure, while preventing diseases, it improves the economic benefits of the pig farm.

2. Creep feed stage (within 2 weeks after weaning):

   Dosage: 1kg of tetracycline + 3kg of BoLe zinc + 300g of probiotics per ton of feed.

   Significance: Promotes growth and prevents diarrhea.

3. Nursery pig stage (before 35kg):

   Dosage: 1kg of tetracycline + 300g of probiotics per ton of feed.

   Significance: Increases feed intake, reduces feed-to-meat ratio, and prevents diarrhea.

4. Grower-finisher stage:

   Dosage: 750g of tetracycline per ton of feed.

   Significance: Reduces feed-to-meat ratio, improves feed conversion rate; prevention is better than cure, while preventing diseases, it improves the economic benefits of the pig farm.

5. Breeding pen emptying:

   Dosage: 8g/head of compound Lincomycin-Daguang premix + 8g/head of tetracycline, add after weaning for 3 days until the end of mating to ensure the herd consumes the drug amount for 7 days.

   Significance: a) Used for the prevention and treatment of Salmonella disease, E. coli enteritis, mycoplasma infection, and porcine spirochete dysentery, etc.; b) Enhances the body's immune response, improves the overall health of the herd, ensures the herd participates in breeding with excellent performance, and lays a solid foundation for later pregnancy and parturition.

6.  Pregnant Sow Stage:

   Dosage and Administration: Add 6g/head/day of tetracycline during the 3rd week of pregnancy for 7 consecutive days; when changing seasons, add 6-8g/head/day of Black Pearl tetracycline + 1kg/ton of feed of sulfadimethoxine (compound sulfamethoxazole premix) for 7 consecutive days.

   Significance: a) Prevents and treats abortions and infections caused by chlamydia, Toxoplasma, erythrocytic bodies, and spirochetes, improving conception and farrowing rates; b) Significantly increases the litter weight at birth and the weight at weaning.

7. Prevention and Treatment of Proliferative Enteritis and Respiratory Diseases:

   Dosage and Administration: For each ton of feed, add 1kg of tetracycline + 125g of 80% tylosin premix, used continuously for no more than 14 days.

   Significance: a) Treats bacterial enteritis caused by Escherichia coli and Salmonella, and proliferative enteritis caused by intracellular Lawsonia intracellularis; b) The efficacy in treating mycoplasma pneumonia and pneumonia caused by mixed infections of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, Pasteurella multocida, and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is significant; c) Controls pig dysentery associated with the Spirochaeta genus (formerly known as Leptospira or Spirochete genus).

8. Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Respiratory Diseases and Infectious Synovitis in Chickens, Intestinal Infections and Coccidiosis caused by Gram-Negative Bacteria and Spirochetes:

   1kg of tetracycline/ton of feed, used continuously for 14 days, once a month.

   The farming industry should use drugs scientifically and reasonably, use less, use good drugs, and focus on disease prevention in large-scale pig farms! In fact, in the early stages of many diseases, early intervention with drugs can achieve good treatment results.

   For instance, diseases such as leptospirosis and cervical abscesses are not commonly seen, but tetracycline is widely used for prevention due to its broad antibacterial spectrum. Moreover, tetracycline causes minimal harm to pigs, so it is frequently used for piglets or pregnant sows. If tetracycline can be used wisely, I believe that pig diseases will be easier to treat, and costs will also be lower.