Haematological and Serum Biohemical Patterns in Large White Pigs Raised in Ghana

Abstract

Hematological and serum biochemical parameters were determined for day-old , 6-, 16- and 24-week old Large White pigs raised in a humid tropical environment. The values for Packed Cell Volume (PCV), leucocyte count and differential white cells counts were not significantly (P17.05) different for the various age groups. The hemoglobin (Hb) level (g %) of the 24-week-old pig: (13.7) was however significantly (P<0.05) greater than that of the day-old (10.6), 6-week-old (10_4) and 16-week-old (11.7) pigs. Blood glucose and serum urea levels of the day-old pigs were higher than those observed for the other age groups. Some differences existed between the blood picture of the pigs studied in this experiment and those reported in the literature.