Volume: 57 Issue: 2
Year: 2026, Page: 337-341, Doi: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2026.57.2.337-341
Received: April 4, 2026 Accepted: May 30, 2025 Published: June 30, 2026
Haematological and serum biochemistry parameters are good indicators of the physiological status of animals, and their changes are important for assessing the response of an animal to various physiological situations. Thus, a study was conducted to evaluate the haematobiochemical profile of pigs reared on different bedding materials. Twenty-seven (27) crossbred weaned pigs weighing between 39 and 41 kg obtained from the pigsty of the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, were replicated three times with nine pigs in each treatment. The three treatments used were concrete (T1), wood shavings (30 cm depth) (T2) and sand (20 cm depth) (T3). The experiment lasted for eight weeks. Feed was offered twice a day while water was supplied ad libitum. Five mL of blood was collected from three pigs per treatment for the analysis of haematological indices in anticoagulant-containing tubes, while tubes without anticoagulant were used for serum biochemistry. From the results obtained, packed cell volume (26.00%), haemoglobin (8.03g/dL), red blood cell (3.34 x 106/uL), and white blood cell (21866.70 x106/uL) were significantly (p0.05). No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular haemoglobin. Total protein and globulin were significantly (p<0.05) highest (4.50g/dL, 2.33g/dL) in the sand floor. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was significantly highest in T3, while aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were highest in T1. It can be concluded that sand can be used as an alternative bedding material for growing pigs without adversely affecting their haematological and serum parameters.
Keywords: Bedding, floor, grower pig, haematology, serum
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© 2026 Ogunbode et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Ogunbode, A.A., Bankole, T.O. & Adebiyi, O.A. (2026). Haematobiochemical indices of growing pigs as influenced by bedding materials. Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 57(2),337-341 https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2026.57.2.337-341