Background: Traditional pig breeds experience a renaissance in public perception to favor biodiversity and resilience to diseases. Moreover, the routine use of parturition induction with exogenous hormones is questioned, as it may compromise the welfare of both dams and piglets. Aims and Objectives: In this study, neonatal complete blood counts were analysed regarding the effects of genotype, i.e., traditional German Saddleback versus modern German Landrace, and the implementation or omission of parturition induction by hormonal intervention. Materials and Methods: Blood samples of n = 296 newborn piglets from 28 farrowings were taken within the first 6 h of life to study hematological traits. Results: The population showed 22% of neonates being anaemic with hemoglobin <11.0 g/dl (P < 0.01). The Saddleback piglets exhibited higher red blood cell count and lower mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin levels than Landrace piglets (P < 0.001). The Landrace piglets exhibited higher white blood cell count, neutrophil count, and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio than Saddleback piglets (P < 0.001). The hormonal parturition induction revealed no effects for the analysed indices except for red cell distribution width-coefficient of variation with higher values in spontaneously born piglets compared with piglets that experienced an induced parturition (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The pronounced differences between Saddleback and Landrace neonates suggest a breed-specific setting of the hematological activity at birth, which might be partially modulated by hormone application due to labor induction in pigs.
Oster et al. (Sun,) studied this question.