The effects of feeding different sources of immunoglobulins (sow's colostrum by nursing, SC; no colostrum, NC; bovine colostrum, BC; and porcine immunoglobulins, PI) to neonatal pigs during the first 2 d of life on their subsequent survival, growth, feed intake, feed conversion, incidence of diarrhea, and selected hematological and immunological variables were assessed throughout a 19-d experimental period. After d 2, all pigs were fed the same liquid basal diet. Crossbred neonatal pigs, 10 per treatment, were individually reared after birth (NC, BC, and PI) or 2 d of age (SC) with an automatic feeding device. All pigs of treatments SC and PI, and 80 and 30% (P < .01) of pigs of treatments BC and NC, respectively, survived to the end of the trial. Growth, feed intake, and feed conversion efficiency (gain/feed) of surviving pigs were similar (P > .05), regardless of treatment. A transient physiological scours was observed in 20 to 50% of the pigs between 5 and 7 d of age; by 10 d of age, all pigs had solid feces. Hemoglobin concentration and hematocrit in blood of pigs of treatment NC were lower (P < .05) than those of the other treatments. Concentrations of total serum proteins, trichloroacetic acid-precipitable proteins, and serum IgG of SC pigs were higher (P < .01) than those of pigs in the other treatments. These results showed that porcine immunoglobulins or bovine colostrum can be satisfactorily used as immunoglobulin sources in artificial rearing of colostrum-deprived neonatal pigs.

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This is 1 of 23 guides to help Southeastern U.S. producers of economically important agricultural commodities build resilience to, prepare for, and recover from hurricane impacts. All guides can be found on the USDA Southeast Climate Hub Hurricane Preparation and Recovery Commodity Guides website.Disclaimer: This guide contains a compilation of information from multiple coastal States in the Southeastern United States. Therefore, some of the links and resources may not be relevant or even appropriate for your location. Information in this document was provided by USDA and various university Extension staff and based on shared experiences preparing for and recovering from hurricane impacts; however, individual producer situations will vary.