Farrowing liveweight and ADGW in litters from sows treated with Metacam

Farrowing is a critical period for the sow in which painful, inflammatory and infectious processes along with other systemic events cause postpartum stress and may trigger Postpartum Dysgalactia Syndrome (PPDS) which manifests itself either in clinical or subclinical presentation, both with negative impact on the sow and its litter regarding the growth development of suckling pigs. NSAIDs are a pharmacological group widely used in veterinary medicine due to their anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic properties. Among these Metacam with its active ingredient meloxicam - a COX-2 selective inhibitor - applied at the end of farrowing has proven to be effective and safe on PPDS control, improvement of sow welfare and behavior, and overall milk and colostrum intake for piglets during the first days of life. The objective of this study was to determine under field conditions the effect of meloxicam in litters from sows of a farm with subclinical PPDS in terms of productive performance of their litters liveweight and ADGW at weaning.

The study took place on a multi-site intensive farm and it considered a total number of 265 sows and 3077 piglets. Sows were divided into two experimental groups, Group A (n=127 sows) was treated with Metacam 5 ml IM and Group B (n=138 sows) was injected with saline solution 5 ml IM to serve as non-treated control group. One hour after farrowing each piglet was individually identified with numbered ear tags and cross fostering was restricted to first 24 hours within litters from a same treatment group. A research coordinator monitored the experience from farrowing to weaning. The experimental was the litter. A lineal general univariate model was used to assess statistical differences between groups for liveweight at weaning and ADGW during the farrowing period.

Piglets in the meloxciam group presented a greater live weight at weaning with 0,28 kg of advantage compared to control group. LS Means for live weight at weaning where 5,23 for meloxicam group (n 1504) and 4,95 for control group (n 1573).

ADGW across the whole farrowing period was superior in the meloxicam group with 13 g daily advantage over the control group. LS Means for site 1 ADGW where 0,242 for the meloxicam group (n 1504) and 0,229 for the control group (n 1573). This difference was statistically significant (p< 0,05).

The litters from sows treated with Metacam had a better growth performance from birth to weaning (21 days average). These results are in line with previous research and further confirm the value of controlling lactation disorders during the first critical hours for piglets colostrum and milk intake.

Disclosure of Interest: C. Gutiérrez Conflict with: Boehringer Ingelheim, D. Guiñez: None Declared, V. Grosse-Liesner: None Declared, A. Ruiz: None Declared, C. Roudergue Conflict with: Boehringer Ingelheim.