Effect on productivity of treating fattening pigs every 5 weeks with flubendazole in feed

Abstract

In a large European trial, a deworming program using 30 ppm flubendazole for 5 days every 5 weeks for fattening pigs was evaluated for a period of 16 months (4 rounds) and compared with untreated control and historical pre-treatment data from the same fattening units. The treatment regime was evaluated in 4 fattening farms located in Belgium, The Netherlands and France with a total of 21,721 fattening pigs in the treated and 22,394 in the control groups. All the farms, except farm A, had very low EPGs (Eggs Per Gram) for Ascaris suum before treatment and were nihil after treatment. In three of the farms a reduction in affected and rejected livers due to "white spots" was noted. In all the farms, positive effects on average daily weight gain (15.1 to 34.7 g) were obtained, except in farm C, and fewer dropouts were counted in the treated groups.