Farm Animal Welfare

Pig Weaner Management and Stress Reduction

The post-weaning period is one of the highest-risk welfare periods for piglets, requiring careful management to minimise stress.

Key Facts

Weaning causes simultaneous stress from maternal separation, dietary change and social regrouping
Post-weaning diarrhoea is driven by gut disruption and immune vulnerability after weaning
Familiarity-based mixing of litters before weaning reduces post-weaning aggression
Providing familiar feed types before weaning reduces dietary transition stress
Temperature management is critical as weaners are prone to chilling after housing transition

Welfare Considerations

The weaning transition is a welfare crisis point combining multiple simultaneous stressors. Management strategies that reduce any individual stressor provide cumulative welfare benefit. Staggered weaning approaches and familiarisation strategies reduce the welfare impact significantly.

What You Can Do

Support welfare standards requiring post-weaning stress monitoring and management protocols
Advocate for research into low-stress weaning strategies applicable in commercial settings
Choose pork from farms with documented post-weaning mortality and morbidity monitoring