By Wesley Lyons and Chris Olsen, Pharmacosmos Inc.

It is a well-known fact that baby pigs need supplemental iron to thrive. This practice has origins in the 1950’s but research has brought a renewed focus to what optimal injectable iron doses may be in modern swine production. And the implications go far beyond what meets the eye, significantly impacting growth from birth to market.

Iron deficiency anemia is most prevalent at weaning when a baby pigs’ growth has outpaced available iron stores. With minimal iron storage at birth and very little iron available in sows’ milk, supplemental iron in the form of iron injections is necessary to support optimal health and growth. The classic pale-white baby pig at weaning is an example of an animal that is likely iron deficient but is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the actual severity of iron deficiency anemia in a herd. On-farm testing of blood hemoglobin, which is an accurate indicator of a baby pigs iron status, is simple, effective, and has been used to understand the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in herds across the country. We now understand that with advances in the productivity of swine production, a once standard 200mg dose of injectable iron leaves more than 70% of baby pigs in a vulnerable state at weaning (Figure 1). Yes, iron is available in post-weaning diets, but it takes 2-4 weeks for adequate quantities of dietary iron to be absorbed to support iron hemostasis. Couple with that with studies showing that while blood hemoglobin levels can be corrected, the long-term growth impacts of early life iron deficiency anemia never fully recover, it becomes clear that optimizing injectable iron doses early in the suckling period is critical.

(Figure 1). Photo submitted Pharmacosmos, Inc.

What are the growth impacts? Recent studies conducted at both university research and commercial farm levels evaluated the benefit of a second injection of Uniferon (400mg total given as one injection for treatment and one for prevention of iron deficiency anemia).

Baby pigs given a second injection showed improved average daily gain from wean to market and were heavier at marketing time. The improved weight gain across these two studies was around 7 pounds heavier at marketing time with a 4-5% improvement in average daily gain. The data from both studies illustrates the simultaneous simplicity and power of a second injection of Uniferon. Both in high health, university herds and in commercial pigs, the benefit was undeniable. Some key learnings from these studies as well as previous research show that there’s an optimal timing for the dosing. Baby pigs need their first, 200 mg dose of Uniferon between 24 and 72 hours of life. The second dose is flexible and can be given at similar timing or around processing. The second dose should be given by day 10-12 of age, as research has shown that doses given beyond this timing carry less benefit to the baby pig.

Photo submitted by Pharmacosmos, Inc.