| Abstrakt: |
One-hundred and thirty Dutch Landrace swine, 64 barrows and 66 gilts, 100 kg in live weight, were utilized to study leg weakness and associated blood, bone and muscle quality parameters. One-hundred and three swine, derived from pens of eight pigs per pen, were selected to obtain approximately equal sex representation and incidence of normal and leg weakness status. Twenty-seven swine were derived from individual housing facilities where a high incidence of leg weakness had been observed. All animals received a nutritionally balanced, vitamin and mineral fortified pelleted ration, and were reared without bedding in environmentally controlled housing maintained at 15 C. Blood protein analysis suggested no acute pathogenicity. Electrolyte analysis of serum and bone, and serum alkaline phosphatase determination revealed no marked difference due to sex, status of mobility, or type of housing. Observation of postmortem meat quality revealed no association of inferiority with the leg weakness condition. |
