The quality of bedding and flooring in weaner pig housing has significant implications for comfort, health, and welfare at a critical developmental stage.
Weaner pigs on cold, bare slatted floors experience thermal stress, increased injury rates, and are unable to perform rooting and nesting behaviours. Providing straw or other organic bedding material dramatically improves welfare indicators in weaned pigs. The challenge in many commercial systems is managing straw in slatted housing designed for slurry management, but deep straw systems and alternative bedding materials offer practical solutions.