0
Objectives
1) To assess if an additional injection of iron (at 2-weeks of age) improves Hb levels in piglets at weaning and subsequently in the nursery.
2) To assess the relationship between ZnO levels used in nursery starter rations and Hb concentration in nursery pigs.
Materials and methods
Trial 1: Nursing piglets (n = 186), over 2 cohorts on a commercial farm were enrolled at 2-weeks of age. Prior to enrollment each piglet had already received an initial injection of gleptoferron (200 mg IM) at 3-days of age. The piglets were randomly assigned to one of two groups: Treatment with gleptoferron 200 mg IM or Control (no injection). Individual body weights (kg) and whole blood samples for measuring Hb were taken at 2 and 6 weeks of age.
Trial 2: At a different commercial farm 294 weaned piglets, over 3 cohorts, were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 fed 500 ppm ZnO coated pellets and Group 2 fed 3000 ppm mixed ZnO pellets. The rations were offered from weaning (21-days of age) to 3-weeks post weaning at which time an individual blood sample was taken from each pig to measure Hb.
Results
Trial 1: Piglets in the treatment group had higher Hb levels compared to piglets in the control group. However, there was no difference in ADG between the two groups.
Trial 2: Pigs in Group 1 had lower Hb levels at 3-weeks post weaning vs. pigs in Group 2.
Discussion
The administration of an additional injection of 200 mg of gleptoferron at 2-weeks of age increased piglet Hb. While no effect on ADG was observed in this study there may be other unmeasured benefits such as the promotion of optimal immunity that a higher Hb status may have. Hence, a second injection of iron may still have health benefits beyond improving ADG and future research is needed to evaluate this. Additionally, future research should focus on following iron supplemented pigs into the finishing barn to evaluate any unrealized effects.
Pigs fed 500 ppm ZnO had lower Hb compared to pigs fed 3000 ppm by approximately 2 units which was antagonistic to our hypothesis as it was expected that the high ZnO levels would interfere with iron uptake. Further research, using a larger sample size, is needed to further investigate the effect of ZnO concentration on Hb values in pigs.
Eric Perrin, Amanda Perri, Robert Friendship, Terri O’Sullivan. Evaluation of a second iron supplementation and the use of zinc oxide in the prevention of iron-deficient anemia in young pigs. Proceedings of the 47th AASV Anual Meeting. 2016.
