Performance of swine chilled during artificial rearing

There were more deaths among neonatal swine artificially reared for 21 days in individual cages at 27.9 C than among pigs reared under similar conditions at thermoneutrality (34.6 C). Furthermore, these deaths occurred at a younger age in the chilled animals. Chilled swine gained less body weight than did warm pigs for the first 15 days of life, although the survivors of the 27.9 C environment weighed the same as warm survivors at 22 days of age. Plasma glucose, liver, and skeletal muscle glycogen concentrations were significantly lower in neonatal swine exposed to 27.9 C from 1 to 4 days of age. Plasma nonesterified fatty acids, glycerol, cholesterol, and triglyceride concentrations were not altered by chilling. However, these lipid variables were significantly higher in 4-day-old nursig pigs than in animals reared artificially for the same period on artificial food. Adrenal gland weights and adrenal medullary catecholamine-synthetic enzyme activities were not altered by exposure to 27.9 C in pigs 1 to 4 days of age.