Route of iron supplementation to piglets: effects on hemoglobin, piglet growth and infectious diseases

The treatments were a) early (d 1-4) and b) late (d 8-12) Fe inj 20 litters, c) oral Fe supplementation starting on d 3 and d) oral suppl. (as under c) and an early Fe injection. The pigs were individually marked, weighed and blood sampled on d 2, 9, 20 and at weaning (d 33), respectively. The presence of joint infections was checked daily and on d 9 more thoroughly. The pigs were individually identifi ed and recorded throughout and at slaughter. Mortality, treatments and morbidity were noted daily and all dead pigs in the trial were post-mortem examined.

There were significantly more treatments for joint infections in pigs receiving an early Fe inj. than in the littermates receiving a late inj. Also, pigs only receiving Fe by oral supplementation had significantly fewer joint infections than littermates also given an early Fe inj. Hb was signifi cantly
higher on d 9 and d 20 in pigs receiving an early iron inj. than in littermates receiving a late Fe inj. or only oral suppl., respectively. For the orally suppl. pigs, daily growth to slaughter, and mortality was the same for both treatment groups; however, for the inj. groups, growth from day 2 to slaughter tended to be lower for the late injection treatment group. The results support the proposal that early Fe inj. increases the risk of piglet joint infections usually occurring in the second week of life. There are no indications in this study that pigs with high Hb levels perform better than pigs with levels of 80-110.