Sporadic high mortality of young pigs on some clients' units was one of a number of factors that led North Yorkshire vet Mark Howells to believe MHD might be the problem. The challenge was that vets and nutritionists he spoke to had not noticed similar problems, and the post-mortem appearance of dead pigs examined by the Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency was not typical of MHD.He set about a forensic-style examination of clues in his quest for answers, but it has taken several months to unravel the cause."I gradually became aware last year of shifting problems in all livestock species. Animals were not doing as well," he says, adding that this was at the time raw feed materials from the wet 2012 harvest were being used, and the general consensus was that they were substandard compared with those from a good harvest. Also, some straw was badly affected by moulds.
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