Data collection of growth parameters stopped on day 124, when half of the pigs reached the required slaughtering body weight of 160 kg.The remaining pigs were kept under the experimental conditions up to the day in which these pigs in turn attained the final body weight of about 160 kg.Blood samples were collected at the end of the trial from a total of 30 randomly-chosen animals (15 from each group). Samples were analysed for Hematoctrit (HCT), Haemoglobin (Hb), Red Blood cells (RBC) and White Blood Cells (WBC) counts. Smears of whole blood were made, air-dried and stained with May-Gr¨ unwald–Giemsa.Differential cell count was performed by two independent operators under light microscope in order to obtain Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte ratio (N:L).