Postnatal limb bone growth in relation to live weight in pigs from birth to 84 days of age.

Long limb bones were dissected from 30 Camborough x Canabrid pigs serially slaughtered at birth, 14, 28, 56, and 84 d of age to determine the growth patterns of long limb bones (humerus and radius for the forelimb and femur and tibia for the hindlimb) in relation to live weight from birth to 84 d of age, weighing up to approximately 31 kg. Relationships between individual long limb bone measurements (Y) and live weight or transformations of live weight (X) were evaluated using allometric analyses. Hindlimb bones tended to have higher growth coefficients than forelimb bones (P < .05), suggesting an anterior-posterior gradient of long limb bone growth. However, centripetal gradients of growth for long limb bones were not evidential (P > .05). Greater diameter growth compared with length growth of the long limb bones indicated that the differentiation in growth for diameter and length of the long limb bones was an effective response to the functional requirements of standing, walking, and running following birth.