Targeted care protocols for at-risk neonatal piglets use birth weight, litter position, and early behavior assessment to prioritize intervention and improve welfare outcomes.
Targeted neonatal pig care represents a welfare advance over uniform litter management approaches. Not all piglets within a litter have equal risk — birth weight, position in the birth order, and early behavior assessment allow stockpersons to direct limited labor toward individuals with greatest welfare need. This triage approach improves aggregate welfare outcomes while maintaining practical viability in commercial settings. Stockperson training in neonatal assessment is the critical enabler — skills that distinguish vigorous from at-risk piglets are specific and teachable.