Skilled farrowing supervision significantly reduces neonatal piglet mortality and improves sow welfare. Integrating technology with skilled stockperson presence maximises welfare outcomes in modern farrowing units.
Farrowing is the highest welfare-risk period in a pig's life, with hypoxia during prolonged births, hypothermia in the immediate post-birth period, and competition for colostrum creating multiple simultaneous welfare threats. Skilled supervision that enables prompt intervention for dystocia, drying of piglets, and ensuring colostrum access dramatically reduces preventable mortality and suffering.