• Arbuckle A
• Fechter W
• Hendricks R

• Agriculture
• Subluxation
• Swine
• Veterinary Chiropractic

Objective:  The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential benefits of animal chiropractic on the rate of gain in pigs in a controlled field study.

Methods: 109 piglets weaned on the same day were enrolled in the study. The piglets enrolled in the study were mixed sexes born to first time gilts.  The piglets ranged in age from nine weeks, three days of age to 13 weeks of age and weighed 40-80 pounds at weaning.  All piglets were captured and randomly assigned into control (CON) and adjusted (ADJ) groups.

Results: On average the ADJ group reached harvest weight 6 days sooner than the CON group. On the operation studied, feed costs for the adjusted group were reduced and feed efficiency was improved.

Conclusion: In this study chiropractic care was associated with improved speed of harvest rate, reduced feed costs and increased feed efficiency in piglets.  Studying food animals in production settings can result in robust data because we can study large groups in controlled settings.  Large scale studies could also determine if chiropractic can be implemented to improve sustainable agriculture by reducing antibiotic usage, improving feed efficiency, and improving consumer perceptions.

Author keywords: animal chiropractic, piglets, farrow, livestock, vertebral subluxation, adjustment, manipulation

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