Comparative evaluation of haematological profile of the Nigerian indigenous and Large White x Landrace crossbred pigs vaccinated with sheep RBC

This study was designed to evaluate haematological response between Nigerian indigenous pigs (NIP) and Large White x Landrace crossbred pigs (LWL) when vaccinated with sheep RBC. Twenty male pigs with average age of 42 ± 3 days and weighed 3.10 ± 0.29 kg (NIP) and 6.90 ± 0.43 kg (LWL), were used. They were assigned to groups A (10 NIP) and B (10 LWL); each was further divided into two with five animals in each replicate. Processing of sheep RBC followed standard procedures; feed and animal management were similar. All the pigs were vaccinated with1 ml of 10 % sheep RBC per pig at week 4 and revaccinated 3 weeks later. Their haematological profiles were determined using standard procedures and the study lasted ten weeks. There was a rise in WBC count of both groups after initial vaccination. Mean WBC count of LWL was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher at weeks 0, 1, 4 and 6, respectively. Lymphocyte count of the two groups also increased sharply after initial vaccination; values recorded for LWL showed a slight but a continuous rise while those of the NIP generally decreased and increased in value. A significant differences in mean values of neutrophil were recorded prior to initial vaccination (p = 0.011, t = 8), on weeks 1 (p = 0.013, t = 8) and 3(p = 0.005, t = 8) with NIP maintaining higher values than LWL. There was no significance (p ≥0.05) difference in the mean values of eosinophil, basophil and monocytes for both groups.