A survey of bone integrity from cull sows in Ireland

Table 2 Summary of average metacarpal values per parity range

PARITY RANGE	Early	Mid	Late	P	SE^Z
	(1 - 3)	(4 - 6)	(7 +)
No. of sows	18	46	46
Cross sectional area cm²	2.12b	2.33a	2.19ba	<0.01	0.023
Cross sectional moment of inertia mm⁴	1.67b	1.73a	1.75a	< 0.001	0.009
Apparent density g cm^-3	0.65b	0.90a	0.78a	<0.05	0.019
Bone mineral density g cm^-3	0.30	0.30	0.30	NS	0.002
Elastic Modulus GPa^Y	18.94	18.98	19.68	NS	0.483
Dry matter %	84.75	85.16	85.31	NS	0.178
Ash % (fresh basis)	50.13	52.11	52.88	NS	0.416
Ash % (dry basis)	59.17	61.26	62.01	NS	0.507

Data presented as least square means, values with subscripts are significantly different
^ZSE: Standard error
^YGPa: Giga pascals

ISSN: 2046-0481