One Iron Injection Is Not Enough—Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic Farm
Suckling piglets cannot satisfy their demand for the essential trace element iron from sows’ milk alone, which is poor in iron. Therefore, iron is usually supplemented by injecting 200 mg iron (as iron dextran) on day 3 post natum. However, the longer suckling period in organic pig herds l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/9/651 |
| _version_ | 1818951226121781248 |
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| author | Katharina Heidbüchel Jessica Raabe Lisa Baldinger Werner Hagmüller Ralf Bussemas |
| author_facet | Katharina Heidbüchel Jessica Raabe Lisa Baldinger Werner Hagmüller Ralf Bussemas |
| author_sort | Katharina Heidbüchel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Suckling piglets cannot satisfy their demand for the essential trace element iron from sows’ milk alone, which is poor in iron. Therefore, iron is usually supplemented by injecting 200 mg iron (as iron dextran) on day 3 post natum. However, the longer suckling period in organic pig herds leads to iron intake from feed starting later. We hypothesized that one iron injection is not enough for organically reared piglets, and that a second and third injection would improve their iron status and growth. On an organically certified experimental farm, 288 piglets from 32 litters were allocated to three treatments with one iron injection on day 3, two injections on day 3 and 14 and three injections on day 3, 14 and 21 post natum, respectively. One injection resulted in the lowest hematocrit and serum iron levels until day 28 post natum and the lowest daily weight gains until weaning, while piglets receiving two or three iron injections did not differ from each other. Based on these observations, we conclude that one iron injection is not enough to ensure adequate iron supply and unimpaired growth of organically reared piglets, and additional iron supply is necessary. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:31:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-584c284fde654a6e8b6fdd5e57ea4aaa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:31:07Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-584c284fde654a6e8b6fdd5e57ea4aaa2022-12-21T19:45:06ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152019-09-019965110.3390/ani9090651ani9090651One Iron Injection Is Not Enough—Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic FarmKatharina Heidbüchel0Jessica Raabe1Lisa Baldinger2Werner Hagmüller3Ralf Bussemas4Institute of Organic Farming, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Trenthorst 32, 23847 Westerau, GermanyInstitute of Organic Farming, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Trenthorst 32, 23847 Westerau, GermanyInstitute of Organic Farming, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Trenthorst 32, 23847 Westerau, GermanyInstitute of Organic Farming and Farm Animal Biodiversity, Austrian Research and Education Center Raumberg-Gumpenstein, 4600 Thalheim/Wels, AustriaInstitute of Organic Farming, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Trenthorst 32, 23847 Westerau, GermanySuckling piglets cannot satisfy their demand for the essential trace element iron from sows’ milk alone, which is poor in iron. Therefore, iron is usually supplemented by injecting 200 mg iron (as iron dextran) on day 3 post natum. However, the longer suckling period in organic pig herds leads to iron intake from feed starting later. We hypothesized that one iron injection is not enough for organically reared piglets, and that a second and third injection would improve their iron status and growth. On an organically certified experimental farm, 288 piglets from 32 litters were allocated to three treatments with one iron injection on day 3, two injections on day 3 and 14 and three injections on day 3, 14 and 21 post natum, respectively. One injection resulted in the lowest hematocrit and serum iron levels until day 28 post natum and the lowest daily weight gains until weaning, while piglets receiving two or three iron injections did not differ from each other. Based on these observations, we conclude that one iron injection is not enough to ensure adequate iron supply and unimpaired growth of organically reared piglets, and additional iron supply is necessary.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/9/651pigorganic agricultureiron injectionpiglet healthiron dextran |
| spellingShingle | Katharina Heidbüchel Jessica Raabe Lisa Baldinger Werner Hagmüller Ralf Bussemas One Iron Injection Is Not Enough—Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic Farm Animals pig organic agriculture iron injection piglet health iron dextran |
| title | One Iron Injection Is Not Enough—Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic Farm |
| title_full | One Iron Injection Is Not Enough—Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic Farm |
| title_fullStr | One Iron Injection Is Not Enough—Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic Farm |
| title_full_unstemmed | One Iron Injection Is Not Enough—Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic Farm |
| title_short | One Iron Injection Is Not Enough—Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic Farm |
| title_sort | one iron injection is not enough iron status and growth of suckling piglets on an organic farm |
| topic | pig organic agriculture iron injection piglet health iron dextran |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/9/9/651 |
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