Abstract: The purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of different iron sources on the growth performance, immune function and iron status of weanling piglets. Ninety weanling piglets (Large White, 25 days of age) were randomly divided into 3 groups for three replicates of 10 piglets each (half male and half female). The piglets were fed with the diets containing 150 mg/kg ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate and ferrous glycine, respectively, for 28 d. No significant differences were observed on the growth performance during the trial (P＞0.05). The diet with ferrous glycine increased IgG significantly compared with those with ferrous sulfate and ferrous fumarate (P＜0.01) on 28 d. The diet with ferrous glycine increased RBC a little compared with that with ferrous sulfate (P=0.0518) on 14 d, while no difference was observed between ferrous fumarate and ferrous sulfate (P＞0.05). The results showed that ferrous glycine is a better iron source than ferrous sulfate and ferrous fumarate for weanling piglets.

Key words: ferrous fumarate; ferrous glycine; weanling piglets; immune function; growth performance