THE EFFECT OF PERORAL ADMINISTRATION OF AMINO-ACID CHELATED IRON TO PREGNANT SOWS IN PREVENTING SOW AND PIGLET ANEMIA

Two trials were performed in 2 different pig herds. In Trial 1, 9 preg nant Norwegian landrace sows were given a supplement in the feed of ab out 300 mg iron daily as amino acid-chelated iron (Bio-plex(R)) during the last 3 weeks of gestation. Ten sows were included as controls. In Trial 2, 10 sows were fed a supplement of about 650 mg iron daily as glutamic acid-chelated iron (Super Fe-MAX(R)) during the same period o f pregnancy as in Trial 1. Twenty-two sows were included as controls. Blood samples were taken from the sows at the start of the experiment and on the day after parturition. The sows in Trial 1 were also bled a t weaning 5 weeks after parturition. The piglets were weighed and bloo d samples collected 24 +/- 12 h after birth. Livers were taken from 65 piglets, which were either still-born or which died or were euthanise d as one-day olds, and examined for iron content. The erythrocyte coun t (RBC), haemoglobin concentration (HGB), mean cell volume (MCV), eryt hrocyte distribution width (RDW), and haemoglobin distribution width ( HDW) in blood were measured. Haematocrit (HCT), mean cell haemoglobin (MCH), and mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were also estima ted. Blood serum was analysed for total proteins, albumin, serum Fe, a nd total iron-binding capacity (TIBC). A slight increase in HGB and RB C in the piglets from the iron-treated sows compared with the controls was found in Trial 1, but this was considered to be of no practical i mportance. None of the other measured parameters were influenced by tr eating the pregnant sows with amino acid-chelated iron.