Farm Animals

Farmed Pig Weaner Management: Nutrition and Immunity

The post-weaning period is the highest welfare risk phase in pig production, requiring careful nutritional support.

Key Facts

Post-weaning is characterised by abrupt dietary, social, and environmental change
Piglets lose passive immunity from sow milk at weaning, increasing disease susceptibility
Highly digestible diets with animal proteins support early weaner gut function
Gradual introduction to complex diets reduces post-weaning growth check and diarrhoea

Welfare Considerations

Weaning causes simultaneous social disruption, dietary change, and immune vulnerability. Each factor causes welfare compromise; together they create the highest welfare risk period in a pig's life. Nutritional strategies that support gut development and immunity directly reduce post-weaning suffering.

What You Can Do

Support farm welfare programmes that include post-weaning nutrition assessment
Advocate for minimum weaning age standards that allow adequate gut and immune development
Choose pork from farms with documented low post-weaning mortality rates