Abstract
Previous studies have indicated that high piglet blood hemoglobin concentration (HbC) at birth lead to better performance later in life. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the association between sow and piglet blood HbC at farrowing. A secondary objective was to investigate the relationship between sow HbC and probability of stillbirths. Farrowings were observed in 22 sows in a Danish commercial herd. Maternal blood HbC was measured 1–3 days before farrowing using a HemoCue 201 + Hb device. Similarly, HbC was measured from 144 offspring piglets before colostrum intake. Total number of born piglets per litter and parity of the sow were recorded and stillborn piglets were identified using a lung flotation technique. The association between HbC in sows and piglets was determined using a linear mixed model. The relationship between sow HbC and probability of stillbirths was determined using a generalized linear model. The mean HbC of the sows and piglets were 106.9 ± 12.2 and 124.4 ± 19.9 g/L, respectively. A tendency towards a positive association between HbC of the piglets and HbC of the sow around farrowing was found (P = 0.058). Additionally, the probability of stillbirths was negatively associated with the sow HbC (P = 0.021). These results indicate that HbC in newborn piglets may be increased by increasing the sow HbC. Furthermore, stillbirth rates might be reduced by increasing the HbC of the sow.
Highlights
Previous studies have indicated that high piglet blood hemoglobin concentration (HbC) at birth lead to better per‐ formance later in life
Sufficient iron availability in sows is necessary to cope with the demands of the growing fetuses
Improved iron status and hemoglobin concentrations (HbC) at birth could have carry over effects on pre-weaning survival [2]
Summary
Previous studies have indicated that high piglet blood hemoglobin concentration (HbC) at birth lead to better per‐ formance later in life. We have recently found that the probability of stillbirth in pigs decreases with increasing HbC in the sows [6]. The primary objective of our study was to investigate the association between sow and piglet HbC at farrowing. Blood HbC was measured from the sows 1–3 days before farrowing and in piglets before colostrum intake.
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