Increasing litter sizes in commercial pig breeding create neonatal welfare challenges as piglets compete for limited teats and weaker individuals face starvation and crushing risks.
The relentless selection for larger litter sizes in commercial pig breeding has created a welfare crisis for the smallest and weakest piglets who cannot compete effectively for teat access and are progressively excluded from colostrum and milk. Breeding for numbers has outpaced the ability of sow physiology to support all born-alive piglets, creating an expectation that some piglets will die as a consequence of their birth into hyperprolific litters. Welfare science increasingly raises concerns about this systematic production of piglets whose welfare is compromised from birth. The welfare-optimal approach requires breeding programs to weight functional teats and neonatal welfare outcomes alongside total born metrics.