INFLUENCE OF PORCINE IMMUNOGLOBULIN ADMINISTRATION ON SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF PIGS WEANED AT TWO AND THREE WEEKS OF AGE

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Abstract
Three experiments were conducted to study growth, incidence of scouring and mortality of 2- and 3-wk weaned piglets fed immunoglobulins (IMG) derived from abbatoir porcine serum. In experiment 1, 20 piglets weaned at 2 wk of age were randomly divided into a control and an IMG-treated group. In both groups 1 × 1012 organisms of a pathogenic strain of Escherichia coli was administered by stomach tube. The IMG-treated group had a faster (P < 0.01) average daily gain, reduced incidence of scouring (P < 0.01) and lower mortality (P < 0.07) than the control group. In experiment 2, 36 piglets weaned at 3 wk of age were allotted to a control and IMG-treated group. In the absence of a loading dose of E. coli there were no significant differences in average daily gain, scour scores or rectal temperature between the control and the IMG-treated groups. In the third experiment, 72 piglets were weaned at 3 wk of age and randomly allotted to three treatments: a control, an IMG-treated and an antibiotic-treated (Neomycin Sulfate) group. The results of the former two groups were similar to those obtained in experiment 2. The antibiotic-treated group had a faster (P < 0.01) gain than both control and IMG group despite the similarity in the incidence of scouring.