Neonatal piglets face significant welfare risks in the first days of life, with management practices around farrowing, colostrum access, and iron supplementation critical to survival and wellbeing.
Neonatal piglet welfare represents a concentration of welfare challenges in the first days of life. Piglets born to sows in farrowing systems have no choice in their birthplace but depend entirely on management quality for their survival and comfort. A cold, colostrum-deprived, iron-deficient piglet faces multiple simultaneous welfare insults that compound each other - hypothermia weakens piglets who cannot nurse, failure to nurse means inadequate colostrum, and iron deficiency causes anemia that further compromises health. Good farrowing management prevents these deficits through adequate heating, assisted colostrum access for weak piglets, and timely iron supplementation. The investment in good neonatal care produces both welfare and production benefits through higher survival rates.