University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences Animal and Food Sciences 2019 DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN THE PIG FROM BIRTH TO 42 DAYS POST-WEANING (1.5 – 25 KILOGRAMS BODYWEIGHT) Sarah K. Elefson University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7183-2603 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.453 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Elefson, Sarah K., "DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN THE PIG FROM BIRTH TO 42 DAYS POST-WEANING (1.5 – 25 KILOGRAMS BODYWEIGHT)" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences. 112. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/animalsci_etds/112 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Animal and Food Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Sarah K. Elefson, Student Dr. Merlin D. Lindemann, Major Professor Dr. David Harmon, Director of Graduate Studies DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN THE PIG FROM BIRTH TO 42 DAYS POST- WEANING (1.5 – 25 KILOGRAMS BODYWEIGHT) ________________________________________ THESIS ________________________________________ A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky By Sarah K. Elefson Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Merlin Lindemann, Professor of Animal and Food Sciences Lexington, Kentucky 2019 Copyright © Sarah K. Elefson 2019 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7183-2603 ABSTRACT OF THESIS DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN THE PIG FROM BIRTH TO 42 DAYS POST- WEANING (1.5 - 25 KILOGRAMS BODYWEIGHT) This study evaluated the changes in body composition, glycogen tissue reserves, visceral organ growth, and small intestine morphology in the young pig. A total of 96 crossbred pigs were euthanized at birth (pre-suckle), days 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14 postpartum, weaning at day 21, and days 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14, 28, and 42 post-weaning. Body composition of the pig had increasing dry matter and fat, decreasing ash, calcium and phosphorus, and relatively static protein percentage over the course of the study. Liver and muscle glycogen was greatest at birth. Following birth and weaning there was a distinct decrease in the amount of liver glycogen, while there was only a clear decrease in muscle glycogen at birth. Absolute measures of the visceral organs increased in a variety of manners (linear, quadratic and/or cubic); relative measures of visceral organs responded in different manners to increasing age. In the suckling period, villous height, villous height:crypt depth ratio, and goblet cell count was greater than in the post-weaning period. Crypt depth continued to increase through the entire study. Villi measurements of the middle and distal portion of the small intestine taken via scanning electron microscope, revealed different responses to increasing age, but numerically, villi width increased, villi density, enterocyte width, and microvilli density decreased, and microvilli diameter was relatively static. Villi, on average, increased the absorptive area of the small intestine 18 fold and microvilli increased the surface area on average 400 fold. This study provided a vast amount of biometric information on the development of the young pig from birth to 42 d post weaning. KEYWORDS: chemical composition, glycogen, visceral organs, small intestine, birth, weaning Sarah K. Elefson (Name of Student) 12/05/2019 Date DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN THE PIG FROM BIRTH TO 42 DAYS POST- WEANING (1.5 – 25 KILOGRAMS BODYWEIGHT) By Sarah K. Elefson Dr. Merlin Lindemann Director of Thesis Dr. David Harmon Director of Graduate Studies 12/05/2019 Date DEDICATION Dedicated to my parents who always encourage me to chase my dreams no matter where they lead me, and who have given me their constant support in all I do. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my major professor, Dr. Merlin D. Lindemann, for all his support, guidance, patience, and wisdom during my time as his graduate student at University of Kentucky. I am forever indebted for all your teachings not only in the classroom, at the farm, and in research but also about life in general. Special thanks are extended to other committee members, Dr. James Matthews, who took the time to help me grow as a student and a researcher, as well as Dr. Sunday Adedokun, for his continuous support, encouragement, advice, and willingness to answer questions during the entirety of the time of my studies. Gratitude is also extended to Dr. David Harmon, Director of Graduate Studies, and Dr. Richard Coffey, Chairman of the Department of Animal and Food Sciences. My appreciation is extended to Mr. Jim Monegue for all his guidance and his assistance in the management of the animals and tissue collection in this thesis, and that appreciation also extends to the farm crew: Mr. Kip Sparrow, Mr. William “Vern” Graham, and Mr. Robert Elliot, for all their assistance and hard work during the experiment. My gratitude is also extended to Dr. Noel Inocencio for his guidance in the laboratory and in conducting analyses, and to Ms. Annalise Ludwig and Ms. Lydia Walker in their assistance in sample preparation as well as in laboratory work. My gratefulness is passed along to Dr. Nicolas Briot, who not only trained me on the scanning electron microscope, but also took the time to brainstorm new ideas with me as well as help develop a procedure in handling the small intestine samples, helped me to iii fall in love with microscopy, and always took the time to have conversation with the student who showed up to the Electron Microscope Center nearly every day for months. I would like to express thanks to Mr. Carl Harper for his encouragement and advice during my time at University of Kentucky. I would also like to thank him for helping me come up with “gut-wrenching” puns to use when I discuss the small intestine section of this thesis. Also, I would like to thank my colleagues and friends: Mrs. Elizabeth Morris, Ms. Opeyemi Olojede, Dr. Yang Jia, Mr. Tyler Chevalier, Dr. Ning Lu, Dr. Ding Wang, Mr. Jun Chen, and Dr. Jung Wook Lee for all their help and friendship. Gratitude is extended to PIC for their financial funding to make all histology analysis possible. Finally, I would like to express my appreciation to my parents and brother who have always supported and encouraged me. I would not be where I am today without them. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1. Introduction................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 2. Literature Review ....................................................................................... 4 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 4 2.2 Pig Development ..................................................................................................... 5 2.2.1 Body Composition ........................................................................................... 5 2.2.1.1 Bone/Ash ................................................................................................. 5 2.2.1.1 Skeletal Muscle ....................................................................................... 7