The effect of iron injection at different ages on baby pig haemoglobin

Authors

• L. Hoffrén Clinical Veterinary Laboratory, Siilinjärvi
• V. Hoffrén Clinical Veterinary Laboratory, Siilinjärvi
• S. Haaranen Clinical Veterinary Laboratory, Siilinjärvi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23986/afsci.71608

Abstract

Baby pigs were given an iron injection – 200 mg iron as iron dextrin intramuscularly at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 days of age. The pigs were weighed and their blood haemoglobin was determined at 2 and 42 days of age, in addition each group was treated in this way on the 2’nd, 4’th, 8’th and 14’th day after the injection. The haemoglobin values decreased with about 2 g % in a week when no iron was supplied. After the injection the haemoglobin increased with 2.44—4.71 g % in two weeks. The increases between different groups did not differ significantly from each other. Neither anaemia nor the iron injections had any significant influence on growth. In this study the blood haemoglobin remained at he highest level in pigs injected at the age of two days in the whole material during 42 days after birth but their growth was the smallest during that time. It can be concluded that a haemoglobin decrease can be prevented by iron injections but that iron can have a retarding effect on growth if injected at the age of two days, especially in herds where E vitamin and Se deficiency diseases are common.