An evaluation of iron-dextran supplementation in piglets administered by injection on the first, third or fourth day after birth

The aims of the study were to evaluate the effect of iron-dextran injection given on the first, third or fourth day after birth on haematology in piglets. An advanced automated blood analyser;Technicon H*1® , which performs a complete blood cell count and leukocyte differential counts was used to analyse the blood. Six litters of Norwegian Landrace x Yorkshire piglets were included in the study. The day after birth (day 1), half of the piglets in each litter (split litters) were injected subcutaneously with 180 mg iron as iron-dextran (1·5 ml Idofer®). The untreated piglets from two of the litters were injected with the same amount of iron-dextran on day 3, and those from the remaining four litters on day 4. The piglets were weighed and blood samples collected on days 1, 3 or 4, 7, 14 and 21. Erythropoiesis, but not leukocyte count, responded to injection on day 1 compared with injection on the third or fourth day. The difference between groups in haematological parameters was greatest on day 7. The two groups of piglets treated on day 1 had a haemoglobin concentration (Hb) ±SD of 92 g litre–1(±9) and 94 g litre–1(±9), and the piglets treated on day 3 had a Hb of 81 g litre–1(±7) and the one treated on day 4 had a Hb of 78 g litre–1(±7) on day 7. On days 14 and 21 there were no differences between groups. This study indicates that some piglets were anaemic and responded to subcutanous iron injection on day 1.