THE PROVISION OF PASSIVE IMMUNITY TO COLOSTRUM-DEPRIVED PIGLETS BY BOVINE OR PORCINE SERUM IMMUNOGLOBULINS

Abstract

Bovine and porcine serum immunoglobulins were obtained from abattoir blood by sodium polyphosphate fractionation and mixed with sow milk replacer to provide an IgG level of 20 mg mL−1 for diets fed on day 1 and 4 mg mL−1 for diets fed on days 2–14. Control piglets received only sow milk replacer. The control group had a survival rate of 22% compared to 75% for the piglets receiving bovine immunoglobulins and 92% for those receiving porcine immunoglobulins. Diarrhea was more severe in the control group for the first 21 d than in the other two groups. The bovine and porcine groups did not differ in the incidence of diarrhea at any time during the experiment. The average daily gains measured over the 28-d period were significantly different between the three treatments with the controls gaining 83.9 g d−1, bovine immunoglobulin fed piglets 140.6 g d−1 and porcine immunoglobulin fed piglets 169.8 g d−1. Serum immunoglobulins were not detectable until 7 d of age in the controls and the concentration rose to 14.6 mg d−1 on day 21. Porcine immunoglobulins were absorbed to a much higher degree than bovine immunoglobulins. Piglets receiving porcine immunoglobulins had a serum IgG concentration of 19.7 mg d−1 at 1 d of age compared to 5.0 mg d−1 for the bovine treatment piglets. Procine serum immunoglobulins were judged superior to bovine immunoglobulins in providing passive immunity to colostrum-deprived piglets. Key words: Immunoglobulins, colostrum-deprived, piglet, milk replacer