7 Piglet Scours Treatment Options That Old Farmers Swear By

There’s no sight that sinks a farmer’s heart faster than a listless piglet with a wet, soiled backside. Piglet scours, or diarrhea, can go from a minor issue to a life-threatening crisis in a matter of hours. When you’re running a small operation, you don’t always have a vet on speed dial, so knowing the time-tested, practical remedies is non-negotiable. These are the go-to strategies that have saved countless piglets on small farms, focusing on what you can do right now with what you likely already have.

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First Steps for Managing a Scours Outbreak

The moment you spot scours, the clock starts ticking. Your first move isn’t treatment, it’s containment and assessment. Isolate the affected piglet and its mother immediately if possible. This isn’t just for the sick piglet’s benefit; it’s to prevent a cascade that could sweep through the entire litter.

Once isolated, clean the soiled area on the piglet with a warm, damp cloth. Scours can cause skin irritation and chilling if left caked on. Then, thoroughly clean the farrowing pen, removing all soiled bedding and disinfecting the area. Fresh, dry, deep bedding is your best friend in fighting the spread of pathogens.

Finally, take a hard look at the situation. Is it just one piglet, or are others starting to look lethargic? Is the diarrhea watery and profuse, or just a bit loose? The severity will dictate the intensity of your response. Your immediate goals are to stop the spread, prevent chilling, and combat dehydration.

Homemade Electrolyte Drench for Rehydration

Dehydration, not the diarrhea itself, is what usually kills a young piglet. A piglet with scours is losing fluids and essential minerals far faster than it can replace them. A homemade electrolyte drench is the single most important tool in your arsenal to combat this.

You don’t need a fancy commercial product to get started. A simple and effective recipe can be made in your kitchen.

• 1 quart of warm water
• 2 tablespoons of honey, molasses, or corn syrup (for energy)
• 1 teaspoon of salt (for sodium chloride)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (for bicarbonate)

Mix everything thoroughly until dissolved. The solution should be administered warm, not hot. Use a syringe (without the needle) or a small drenching bottle to give the piglet a small amount at a time, aiming for the side of its mouth to prevent aspiration. The goal is to give a few milliliters every hour or two. Consistency is more important than volume.

Using Kaopectate to Soothe the Gut Lining

Sometimes the gut is so irritated that it needs a little help calming down. This is where a product like Kaopectate (or its generic equivalent, kaolin-pectin) comes in handy. It doesn’t cure the underlying cause of the scours, but it acts as a coating agent, soothing the inflamed intestinal lining and helping to absorb some of the bacterial toxins.

For a small piglet, the dosage is tiny. A common starting point is 1-2 cubic centimeters (cc) administered orally with a syringe two to three times a day. Think of it as putting a protective layer on a raw surface. This can slow the fluid loss and make the piglet more comfortable, giving its body a better chance to fight off the infection.

It’s important to understand this is a supportive therapy, not a cure. It works best in conjunction with rehydration efforts. Don’t rely on it alone to solve the problem, but use it as a tool to manage symptoms while you address the root causes.

Plain Yogurt to Restore Healthy Gut Bacteria

A bout of scours completely disrupts the delicate balance of beneficial bacteria in a piglet’s gut. Restoring that "good" bacteria is a key part of recovery. One of the simplest ways to do this is with plain, unsweetened, live-culture yogurt.

The live cultures in yogurt are probiotics that help repopulate the gut with the microorganisms needed for proper digestion. It’s crucial to use plain yogurt; the sugars in flavored varieties will only make the diarrhea worse.

For a very young piglet, you can simply dab a small amount on its snout. Its natural instinct will be to lick it off. For a slightly older piglet that’s eating a bit, you can mix a spoonful into some oatmeal gruel. This is a gentle way to reintroduce beneficial flora and help the digestive system get back on track.

Activated Charcoal Powder to Bind Toxins

Activated charcoal is an old-school remedy that works on a simple principle: adsorption. The charcoal’s porous surface binds to toxins and harmful bacteria in the digestive tract, preventing them from being absorbed into the piglet’s system. The bound toxins are then passed out with the feces.

This is particularly useful when you suspect the scours are caused by something the piglet ingested. Mix a small amount of food-grade activated charcoal powder with water to form a thin slurry. For a small piglet, you only need a tiny dose—perhaps 1/2 cc of the slurry administered via syringe.

A word of caution: charcoal is indiscriminate. It can bind to nutrients and medications as well as toxins. For this reason, it should be used sparingly and not at the same time as other oral treatments like antibiotics or electrolytes. Give it an hour or two apart from other interventions.

Feeding Oatmeal Gruel to Firm Up Stools

Once you’ve got hydration under control and the worst of the scours has passed, you need to reintroduce food carefully. A thin gruel made from plain, rolled oats is an excellent first meal. It’s gentle on the stomach, provides easily digestible energy, and its soluble fiber can help firm up the stool.

To prepare it, simply cook rolled oats with more water than you normally would, creating a thin, soupy consistency. Let it cool to a lukewarm temperature before offering it. Don’t add any milk, sugar, or other ingredients that could irritate the gut.

Offering a small amount of this gruel can encourage a weak piglet to start eating again. It provides both hydration and calories, supporting the piglet’s strength as its digestive system heals. This is a bridge between electrolyte-only therapy and a return to normal milk or feed.

The Critical Role of Warmth and Isolation

You can drench a piglet with all the electrolytes in the world, but if it’s cold, it won’t recover. A sick piglet cannot regulate its body temperature effectively. Chilling forces its body to burn precious energy just to stay warm—energy it desperately needs to fight the illness.

A dry, draft-free environment with a supplemental heat source is non-negotiable. A simple heat lamp secured safely over the isolated pen can make all the difference. The piglet should have enough space to move into and out of the heat zone to regulate its own temperature. If you see the whole litter piling up, it’s a sign they’re too cold.

Isolation serves a dual purpose. It protects the rest of the litter from exposure to the pathogen causing the scours. It also allows the sick piglet to rest without having to compete with its healthier, more vigorous siblings for warmth or a chance to nurse.

A Short Fast to Rest the Digestive System

This one can feel counterintuitive. When an animal is sick, our first instinct is to push food. However, in some cases of severe scours, temporarily withholding milk can give the inflamed gut a much-needed break.

For a period of 12 to 24 hours, you might consider replacing milk feedings entirely with the electrolyte drench. This stops "feeding the bug" and allows the intestines to rest and begin healing without the work of digesting complex milk fats and proteins. The electrolyte solution provides the critical hydration and energy needed to get through this short fast.

This is a judgment call. It’s a strategy best used for a piglet with profuse, watery diarrhea that isn’t improving. After the short fast, you can slowly reintroduce milk or a milk replacer, starting with diluted, smaller, and more frequent feedings to see how the system handles it.

Tackling piglet scours is about quick, decisive action focused on the fundamentals: warmth, hydration, and gut support. These time-tested remedies are tools, not magic bullets, and the best approach often involves combining two or three of them. Always remember, while these methods are incredibly effective for minor to moderate cases, they are not a substitute for veterinary care. If a piglet doesn’t show improvement within 24 hours or the entire litter becomes sick, it’s time to call a professional.