FURTHER STUDIES OF SURVIVAL AND SERUM PROTEIN COMPOSITION IN COLOSTRUM-DEPRIVED PIGS REARED IN A NON-ISOLATED ENVIRONMENT

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Abstract
Forty-eight newborn colostrum-deprived pigs were studied in an experiment designed to provide further information regarding effects of immune globulin source (university herd vs. abattoir blood), period of globulin feeding (5 days vs. 10 days), albumin feeding, and birth weight on survival and serum protein composition.Orally administered immune globulins from either university or abattoir swine serum provided an effective passive immunity during the period of administration. This response was presumed to be partly attributable to coproantibody activity of the globulins. Albumin feeding and the birth weight of the pigs had no effect on survival. The absence of the birth weight effect, which had been observed consistently in earlier experiments, was probably due to the fact that it was not possible, in allotting the pigs, to establish an appreciable difference in average birth weight.Mortality increased progressively during the experiment, indicating an increasing disease level. It was concluded that improved sanitary practices would be essential if this type of rearing program were to have practical value.The distribution of serum proteins at 2 days of age reflected experimental treatments. In globulin-treated pigs the usual decline in γ-globulin levels between 2 days and 4–6 weeks of age was noted. Possible reasons for certain unexpected differences in serum albumin levels are discussed.

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