The welfare of newborn piglets in the first hours of life is critical. Colostrum access, warmth, and competition at the udder determine survival and early welfare outcomes in both intensive and outdoor pig systems.
Neonatal pig welfare reflects the tension between selection for hyperprolificacy (large litter size) and the welfare of individual piglets. Breeding for ever-larger litters has pushed average piglet birth weight down while mortality from starvation and hypothermia has increased. Welfare-positive management requires adequate thermal provision in the immediate farrowing environment, trained stockperson attention during and after farrowing, colostrum supplementation for runted piglets, and monitoring of pre-weaning mortality as a welfare outcome measure. The genetic drive toward larger litters is a welfare concern that deserves industry-level re-evaluation.