Newborn piglets are highly vulnerable to hypothermia in the first hours of life, and management interventions that maintain their temperature significantly reduce mortality and welfare suffering.
The welfare of newborn piglets is determined largely in the first hours of life: whether they receive adequate colostrum, whether they can reach a warm space, and whether they can compete effectively for a teat determines their survival and health trajectory. Hypothermic piglets that fail to suckle starve and die over hours — a prolonged welfare failure that targeted management prevents. The interaction between large litter genetics and management capacity creates welfare challenges in hyperprolific breeds where litter size exceeds the sow's ability to provide adequate nutrition to all piglets.