Neonatal piglet care in the first 72 hours of life is critical for survival and welfare, with colostrum access, thermal management, and crushing prevention as the primary welfare priorities.
Neonatal piglet welfare is determined by the conditions in the first hours of life. Piglets that fail to access colostrum face immune deficiency throughout their lives; those that fail to stay warm die quickly from hypothermia. Both are preventable with appropriate care. The crushing problem — where sows roll onto piglets — drives widespread use of farrowing crates that prevent sow movement. Well-designed free farrowing systems with appropriate pen geometry, heating zones, and piglet escape areas can achieve comparable pre-weaning mortality rates to crated systems with adequate management. Stockperson skill in the first 24 hours of each litter has a larger impact on neonatal welfare than any other single factor.