Selection for large litters has created welfare challenges for both hyperprolific sows and their piglets. Managing large litters requires careful attention to individual piglet welfare.
The drive to maximize prolificacy in commercial pig breeding has created a welfare paradox: more piglets born, but more suffering from competition, starvation, and neglect. Piglets born below 800 grams have dramatically reduced survival chances and often experience their brief lives in competition for limited teat access they cannot win. Welfare-focused breeding should include birth weight uniformity and teat number alongside litter size. Producers managing hyperprolific lines need active interventions to ensure every piglet receives adequate colostrum.