Influence of different newborn piglets drying methods on the development of lesions in the respiratory tract

Abstract

Delivery is one of the critical points of pig production, and the drying of newborns at this time is extremely important, since heat loss can reduce colostrum intake, cause starvation, diarrhea and crushing, with consequent increase mortality. Three main drying methods consist in: i) drying powder; ii) wood shavings; and iii) paper towels; being the first two composed of fine particles that could penetrate and cause damage to the respiratory tract. The objective of this research was to evaluate if the particle size of the material present in wood shavings and in the drying powder could lead to injuries to the respiratory tract of neonates. For this purpose, firstly, the wood shavings and the drying powder were subjected to particle size analysis. In addition, six litters were divided into three groups of 12 piglets each, and each group received a type of drying at birth. On the first, fourth and seventh days after birth, four piglets from each group were euthanized to collect diagnostic materials such as blood, for hematological evaluation, and fragments of lung and trachea for histopathological analysis. Hematological data showed no significant difference between groups, but within the wood shavings group there was a significant increase in lymphocytes on the seventh day, when compared with the first and fourth days. Histologically, the animals exposed to wood shaving and drying powder presented more severe histological findings compared to the paper towel group. Based on these results, the drying newborn piglets with wood shavings had higher potential to generate lesions in the lung tissue of newborn piglets.