Anaemia - Atlas of swine pathology
Where: skin and subcutaneous tissue
Possible causes: Iron deficiency anemiaMycoplasma suis
The whole litter on the left of the picture looks very pale when compared to the litter on the right (these piglets are going to be weaned today at the age of 28 days).
Staff on this farm missed injecting these piglets with iron dextran during the first days of life.
Piglets are born with very little iron reserve. Colostrum and milk from the sow provide relatively little iron, perhaps only 15-50% of the daily requirement. Rapid growth and expansion of blood volume in suckling piglets ensures that a deficiency of iron and anemia will develop unless another source of iron is made available. This is especially the case in pigs raised in confinement without access to soil or faeces containing iron. Prevention is possible by administration of supplemental iron (100-200mg). This can be done with water-soluble iron given orally or by parenteral injection of iron dextran.
