The effect of peroral administration of amino acid-chelated iron to pregnant sows in preventing sow and piglet anaemia.

Two trials were performed in 2 different pig herds. In Trial 1, 9 pregnant Norwegian landrace sows were given a supplement in the feed of about 300 mg iron daily as amino acid-chelated iron (Bio-plex) 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) during the same period of 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 at weaning 5 weeks after parturition. The piglets were weighted and blood samples collected 24 +/- 12 h after birth. Livers were taken from 65 piglets, which were either still-born or which died or were euthanised as one-day olds, and examined for iron content. The erythrocyte count (RBC), haemoglobin concentration (HGB), mean cell volume (MCV), erythrocyte 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 estimated. Blood serum was analysed for total proteins, albumin, serum Fe, and total iron-binding capacity (TIBC). A slight increase in HGB and RBC 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 importance. None of the other measured parameters were influenced by treating the pregnant sows with amino acid-chelated iron.