IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2016) 7-1

Research article
erd Influence of Pig Breeds on Growth Performance and Immunity

During Pre-weaning Period
CHANHMANY SOUPHANNAVONG
Department of Animal and Aquatic Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University,
Thailand

KORAWAN SRINGARM*
Department of Animal and Aquatic Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University,
Thailand
Email: kanok70@hotmail.com
Received 15 November 2015

Accepted 11 April 2016(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract This study was conducted to find out the influence of pig breeds on growth
performance and immunity during the pre-weaning period. The experimental designed
consisted of a completely randomized design and was performed with a total of 892 piglets
acquired from 105 Thai native (TN), Meishan (MS), and Large white x Landrace (LWxLR)
sows. After farrowing, the piglets were weighted daily until weaning at 21 days of age and theaverage daily gain (ADG) was calculated. Serum samples were collected from piglets at 12 and24 h and IgG concentrations were determined by the ELISA technique. The growth
performance of LWxLR piglets measured at birth and at seven days (1.43±0.20 and 2.67±0.20,
respectively) was higher (p<0.01) than TN (0.65±0.15 and 1.12±0.15, respectively) and MS(1.07±0.02 and 1.97±0.37, respectively). The growth performance of MS piglets was similar(p>0.01) to LWxLR piglets at fourteen and twenty-one days of ages. The ADG of MS andLWxLR were significantly (p<0.01) higher than TN during all lactation periods. However, thepiglets of MS showed the highest ADG at fourteen days. The IgG concentrations in all breeds at
12 h were less than 24 h but the values were not considered significant (p>0.01) among thebreeds. The present results indicate that different pig breeds did have an effect on growth
performance and ADG. Moreover, this study showed that low birth weight of piglets resulted in
low growth performance, but IgG concentrations were not found to be different among thebreeds.
Keywords piglet, breed, immunity, body weight

INTRODUCTION
The growth potential of pigs is influenced by many factors (breed, sex, and stage of growth), including
housing conditions (floor type, space allowance and group size) and climatic factors (temperature,
relative humidity, air speed). Breed is an important factor that can affect the growth potential of pigs
(Renaudeau et al., 2006). Indigenous breeds of pigs have lower rates of feed conversion efficiency,
growth rates, and growth potential than exotic breeds (Nwakpu, 2013). The breeds of pigs display
different characteristics. Certain cross breeds (Landrace, Large white, Duroc, Pietrain) have high levelsof growth performance, carcass quality and meat quality (McClann et al., 2008), but cross breed has
been known to be least adaptable in hot humid climates (De et al., 2013), while certain local breeds(Thai native, Meishan, Korean native black pigs, Mongcai) possess higher fat content than cross breeds
and adapt well to hot and humid climates, can tolerate low quality feed, and are resistant to disease(Rattanaronchart, 1994). For example, Thai native pigs display significant genetic differences withcertain cross breeds (Large White, Spotted Large White, and Pietrain) (Chaiwatanasin et al., 2002).
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Meishan is the local pig breed of central China (Bazer et al., 1988). The Meishan breed displays low
growth performance, low muscle content, and low quality of ham, but their fat percentage was higher
than that of the Large White and Pietrain breeds, and Meishan also adapted well with trough feeding(McLaren, 1990; Van Milgen et al., 1998). Breed is not the only factor that can be related to growthpotential (Gerbens et al., 1999) and disease resistance of pigs (Lamont, 1998). It has been determinedthat immunity is also related to growth potential and disease resistance in pigs (Porter and Hill, 1970).
Colostrum provides nutrition (Farmer and Quesnel, 2009), energy and maternal antibodies to piglets(Dividich et al., 2005). New-born piglets acquired immunoglobulin from colostrum after parturition on
the fifth day after ingesting colostrum and milk for passive immune protection (Xu et al., 2000).
Immunoglobulin concentrations in the plasma of piglets depend on the amount of colostrum ingestedby the piglet. Immunoglobulin concentrations in the colostrum and the timing of the gut closure (whenintact IgG can no longer be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract of the piglet) are related. However,the capacity of the piglets is revealed when they have absorbed adequate amounts of IgG for diseaseprotection (Rooke and Bland, 2002).
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to find out the influence of pig breeds on growth performance andimmunity during the pre-weaning period.
METHODOLOGY
Experimental Flow
This experiment was conducted at a designated demonstrative and training swine farm at the
Department of Animal and Aquatic Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University. The
experimental design was a completely randomized design involving 3 treatments, and the total piglets
in each breed were used as a replication. One hundred and five sows belonging to Thai native (n=35),
Meishan (n=28), Large white x Landrace (n=42) breeds and their litters (251 piglets from Thai native,
299 piglets from Meishan, and 342 piglets from Large white x Landrace) were observed from birth toweaning at 21 days of age. The day of birth was defined as day 0 of age. During the suckling phase,
piglets were housed in farrowing pens where they were individually penned until weaning. Pens were
equipped with nipples, feeders, creep boxes containing a heat lamp and an opening to permit freeaccess to the piglets. From day 10 of lactation, piglets were offered creep feed but intake values could
not be measured.
During the first 12 weeks of gestation, sows were fed 2 kg/day, and during the last 4 weeks, 3kg/day (formulated to contain 12% CP, 0.53 lysine, 3,190 kcal ME/kg). After farrowing, sows were fed
the same feed formula, but feed intake was distributed according to litter size. Sows had free access tofresh water.
The farrowing process was induced on day 114 of gestation with 1 ml of prostaglandins(Cloprostenol Sodium). Piglets received 2 ml of oxytocin (2 ml of a 10 IU/ml solution; General Drugs
House Co., Ltd) by intramuscular route. Parturitions were watched but observers interfered as little aspossible in the farrowing process and manual birth assistance was only performed when the birthinterval exceeded 1h immediately after birth, piglets were dried with the use of powder, their umbilicalcords were clamped, and they were weighed using a general balance. Piglets were weighed again at 7,
14, and 21 days of age. All the piglets were weaned at 21 days. At three days after birth, all piglets
received iron (Ferric oxide dextran solution with phenol) 2 ml/piglet by intramuscular injection.
IgG concentration was determined in the serum. Blood samples were collected from piglets via
jugular venipuncture at 12 and 24 h after farrowing. The blood samples were centrifuged for 10 min atⒸ ISERD

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1,500 rpm and serum samples were stored at -20 oC until analysis. IgG concentration was evaluated by
Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A modified method of Devillers et al. (2004) was
employed. The plates were coated with 100 μl of rabbit anti-pig IgG (whole molecule) in 1% in 0.05 M
sodium bicarbonate solution (pH 9.6) and incubated overnight at 4 oC. After that, the plates were
washed 3 times with a washing buffer. Then, TBS containing 1% BSA was added and the specimens
were incubated for 1 h at 20 oC. Thereafter, the plates were washed 3 times using a washing buffer.
Then, the serum sample was added to the plates and the standard (pig IgG) was placed into duplicate
wells and incubated for 2 h at 20 oC. The plates were then washed 3 times with a washing buffer.
Rabbit anti-pig labeled peroxidase 10 μl was added to each well and the specimens were incubated for
1 h at 20 oC. After that, the plates were washed again 3 times with a washing buffer. Then, thesubstrate OPD was added and the colored reaction was stopped by 100 μl 4 M H2SO4 and theabsorbance was read at 492 nm. Ultimately, the standard curve was calculated for the sample.
Data Analysis
In terms of the statistical method, data were analyzed by using the procedure of SPSS Windows. All
statistical tests were performed with SPSS Statistics 17.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). For the analysis of
growth performance, piglets were weighed daily from birth to weaning and the average daily gain
(ADG) and IgG were calculated. The observed mean in multiple comparisons was based on the
Duncan Post Hoc test. Using the SPSS for Windows, Pearson’s correlation coefficients were estimatedfor the treatments.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The influence of pig breed on growth performance and average daily gain during the pre-weaning
period is presented in Table 1. The body weights of all treatments increased over time. However, thebody weights of TN piglets were the lowest. The average daily gain (ADG) of TN piglets was lower
than those of the MS and LWxLR breeds at 14 and 21 days. The LWxLR breed was significantly
higher at birth and at seven days (1.43±0.20 and 2.66±0.20, respectively) compared to piglets of TN(0.65±0.15 and 1.12±0.15, respectively) and MS (1.07±0.02 and 1.97±0.37, respectively) breeds(p<0.01). However, in this regard, MS piglets were not found to be significantly different (p<0.01)
from the LWxLR breed at fourteen and twenty-one days of age. For the ADG of the MS and LWxLR
breeds, it was found to be significantly higher than the that of the TN breed during the pre-weaning
period (p<0.01), but ADG of the MS and LWxLR breeds were not found to be significantly different
during all lactation periods and the piglets of the MS breed (0.20±0.05) had the highest ADG atfourteen days.
The results of our study indicated that there is a significant effect of breed on performance traits.
The body weights of piglets from each breed for all treatments during the pre-weaning period wereboth negatively and significantly correlated with birth weight in accordance with previous results
obtained in our study (Skorjanc et al., 2007). In our study, birth weights of TN pigs were lower thanthose of the cross-bred piglets, and TN pigs were also lower in growth potential and ADG than the
cross-bred piglets, which were similar to the findings of the report of Skok et al. (2008) who studied
the growth performance of piglets during the lactation period. Their results showed that heavy piglets
at birth were still heavier at the end of lactation in comparison to light piglets. Vaclavkova et al. (2012)
reported that low birth weight piglets grew at lower rates than pigs with higher birth weights and thatlow birth weight piglets gained less weight during all periods of production, and they also had lesslongissimus muscle (Fix et al., 2010). The results reported herein are also in agreement with the study
conducted by Kaensombath and Lindberg (2012) that studied the growth performance of exotic andnative breeds and found that cross-bred piglets displayed higher growth performance than native breeds.
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The native breed piglets had lower performance and production inputs, but displayed excellent
adaptation traits when compared with exotic breeds (Keonouchanh et al., 2011). Nwakpu (2013)
studied the characteristics of inbred and cross-bred native piglets with regard to pre-weaning andweaning growth performance levels in pigs. They found that the effects of growth potential among
native pigs were more affected inbred than exotic breeds, and that pre-weaning and weaning
performance values of the cross-bred piglets were better than those of the native pig breeds because of
the dominant genes that were acquired from the exotic parent. The significant differences observed
among the genetic delivery of four pig breeds in Thailand suggested that Thai native pigs displayed thehighest genetic diversity between Large White (LW), Spotted Large White (SLW), and Pietrain breeds(there was a great genetic differentiation observed between Thai native breeds and the other three
breeds) (Chaiwatanasin et al., 2002). Leenhouwers et al. (2002) reported that high genetic merit ofpiglets could improve the ability to cope with hazards during birth and the first days of life. Renaudeau
et al. (2006) showed that the performance and the feeding records of pigs raised in tropical climates
were affected significantly by their breeds. The native breeds better tolerated hot conditions than the
cross breeds. The best heat tolerance was observed in indigenous breeds and this was associated with agreater ability to lose heat.
Table 1 Body weight and Average daily gain (ADG) of each breed during lactation period
VariableBW, kgAge, day

TN

MS

LWxLR

Birth weight714
210.65±0.15c(d)1.12±0.15c(c)1.61±0.15b(b)2.20±0.15b(a)1.07±0.02b(d)1.97±0.37b(c)3.74±0.48a(b)4.55±1.18a(a)1.43±0.20a(d)2.66±0.20a(c)3.84±0.18a(b)5.05±0.42a(a)SEMP-value

0.065
0.068
0.106
0.134

0.000
0.000
0.000
0.000

0.016
0.018
0.016

0.05
0.00
0.05

ADG, kg7
0.07±0.00b
0.13±0.05ab
0.18±0.24a
14
0.07±0.01b
0.20±0.05a
0.17±0.01a
21
0.07±0.01b
0.17±0.06a
0.17±0.21a
a,b,c Means with different superscripts within a row differ, p<0.01(a),(b),(c), (d) Means with different superscripts within a column differ, p<0.01
Breeds: TN=Thai Native, MS=Meishan, LWxLR=Large whitexLandrace

Table 2 IgG concentrations of piglet serum at different times in each breed
Immunoglobulin G, mg/ml
Stage oflactation(h)
TN
MS
LWxLR
12
16.98±2.98
17.90±2.4315.28±3.33
2421.32±3.29
20.90±2.29
20.06±3.73
Breeds: TN=Thai native, MS=Meishan, LWxLR=Large whitexLandrace

SEM

P-value

0.759
0.768

0.388
0.817

The concentrations of IgG in each breed at 12 h were less than 24 h of all breeds (Table 2). The
IgG concentration in the serum of piglets increased over time. However, IgG concentration was not
significantly different for different breeds (p>0.01). The immunoglobulin is secreted from the
mammary tissue in the mammary gland (Foisnet et al., 2010). The transport of maternal
immunoglobulin to the neonate occurs by two routes: the blood stream and colostrum, andimmunoglobulin transfer in quantity in the blood stream or via the colostrum is mainly of the IgG classand has lower concentrations of IgA and IgM (Bourne and Curtis, 1973). Markowska-Daniel andPomorska-Mol (2010) reported the average concentrations of IgA, IgM, and IgG in sow serum 10 days
before parturition were 1.58, 6.12 and 39.56 mg/ml, respectively. After farrowing 7 days, the averageof IgG concentrations level was lower (34.94 mg/ml), but concentrations of IgA and IgM level
increased to 2.25 and 7.25 mg/ml. For the colostrum of sows at farrowing, the IgG concentration was
118.5 mg/ml, the IgA concentration was 23.8 mg/ml and decreased to 7.85 mg/ml at 6 h and to 4.59
mg/ml at 24 h, and concentration of IgM was 12.1 mg/ml and decreased to 4.23 mg/ml at 24 h
postpartum. Cabrera et al. (2012) studied the influence of colostrum and serum immunoglobulin G on
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neonatal piglet survival. It was confirmed that the concentration of IgG in the serum was 1,000 mg/dl
and displayed a 67% piglet survival rate at weaning. Serum IgG concentrations were recorded at
between 2,250 to 2,500 mg/dl and displayed a 91% survival rate at weaning. Farmer et al. (2007)
studied the influence of genotype on colostrum and the milk composition of primiparous sows (Belgian
Landrace, Duroc, Landrace and Yorkshire). They found that colostrum and day-2 milk from Duroc
sows contained more protein and less amounts of lactose than sows of other genotypes. The first-born
piglet had low energy stores and was devoid of serum immunoglobulin (Dividich et al., 2005).
Colostrum samples contained nutrition and immunoglobulin. Both of them are comprised of importantenergy and maternal antibodies that are provided for the survival and development of neo-natal piglets(Devillers et al., 2011). Csapo et al. (1995) researched the composition of colostrum in porcines. The
results showed that the first colostrum samples contained 16.65% of total protein. The high protein
content in colostrum was largely produced by the immunoglobulin. During the first 6 h after farrowing,
IgG accounted for nearly all the protein in the colostrum (Klobasa et al., 1987). Kielland et al. (2015)
investigated the association between IgG in sow colostrum and piglet plasma. They found that thecolostrum IgG and piglet IgG had a strong association and that when the IgG level in the colostrum
was increased, the levels of IgG in the piglets would improve and this would potentially increase thesurvival rates of the piglets. Quesnel et al. (2012) and Devillers et al. (2007) reported that theconsumption of 200 g of colostrum per piglet during the first day after birth significantly reduced therisk of mortality before weaning, while the consumption of 250 g of colostrum was an indicator ofgood health and pre-weaning and post-weaning growth among piglets.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the presented data has demonstrated the breeds of pigs influenced body weight and
ADG during pre-weaning period. The MS and LWxLR showed better growth performance than TN.
However, the pig breeds did not affect the IgG concentration in serum of piglets at 12 and 24 h.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge IDRC-SEARCA for providing financial support. Special
thanks are extended to the Department of Animal and Aquatic Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang
Mai University for the helpful assistance provided during the course of this research study.
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