MEDICINE PROBLEMS
(The following montage is to give a flavour of the common
mistakes regarding handling of medicines on farms)

Frozen vaccines will not work - you have no preventative medicine program!

Refrigerators
Ensure the fridge has a max/min thermometer to record the extremes.	Fridge very dirty. Note: no ice box cover. Overstocked with medicines.	Fridge too cold and frozen. Lower bottle frozen. Too hot is just as bad.
Fridge requires defrosting. The products are at a serious risk of freezing.	The rear of the fridge is frozen and medicines in contact with back plate.	The fridge requires to be defrosted before medicines are frozen.
Fridge overstocked. This was only a 150 sow unit. Also requires defrosting.	The fridge has no management - medicines just thrown in.	Vaccines in door of fridge and therefore too hot. Note: fridge not very clean.
Food in fridge especially pork products this is a serious biosecurity risk.	A well managed fridge minimal medicines and temp storage check possible.	Is the fridge lockable and secure? Is it away from children?
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General Bottle Management
Multiple bottles of the same medicine open at the same time.	Bottles stored dirty. This is a serious abscess risk.	Keep the tops of bottles clean by covering them or placing them undercover.
This degree of bottle contamination is appalling.	A finishing yard's simple lockable cupboard.	Medicines cannot be "stored" on convenient walls.
Keep all medicines out of the reach of children.	Too many medicines. This was only a 200 sow unit.
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Needle and Syringe Management
Always inject into the neck of pigs.	Do not leave bottles and syringes lying around.	Do not store needles and syringes in the bottles.
Do not leave syringes and needles "ready" on tops.	This syringe is very dirty and unusable.	Do not mix medicines unless specifically advised.
Blunt needles cause a lot of trauma when used.	Shoulder/neck abscess from dirty injection technique.
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Disposal of Used Medicines, Needles and Syringes (review local requirements)
Use a sharps tin to dispose of all needles blades, etc.	Do not carelessly dispose of syringes and needles.	Door ways or building supports are not for disposal of needles.
Poor medicine bottle disposal.
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Records and Preventing Medicine Residues
Always read and understand the label on the bottle.	Complete as soon as possible medicine records.	Mark medicated pigs or pens adequately.
Residues are not that hard to find in the slaughterhouse.
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Other Medicine Administration Methods
Medication through the water supply - ensure the water supply is adequate. Check for leaks.	Medicating through the feed review feed bin management.	When top dressing ensure that the medicine is mixed with the feed. Carelessness leads to residues.
Ensure that the feeding system is adequate for the pigs and no wastage occurs.
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