Livestock Welfare

Post-Weaning Pig Welfare in Nursery Systems

The weaning transition is the most stressful period in a pig life, involving simultaneous separation from the mother, social regrouping, and dietary change. Welfare outcomes in the nursery period significantly determine long-term pig health and productivity.

Key Facts

Commercial pigs are weaned at 3-4 weeks in intensive systems, below natural weaning age of 12-15 weeks
Post-weaning diarrhoea affects 20-30% of nursery piglets and is the leading cause of mortality
Social regrouping of piglets from different litters causes aggression and welfare stress
The Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea virus can cause near-100% piglet mortality in infected herds
Providing piglets with transitional milk diets reduces gut inflammation during the weaning transition

Welfare Considerations

Piglets at weaning experience multiple simultaneous stressors including maternal separation, unfamiliar social groups, and dietary change from sow milk to solid feed. The combination creates acute stress response and increased susceptibility to disease. Post-weaning diarrhoea causes dehydration, abdominal pain, and death without treatment. Later weaning (beyond 4 weeks) and provision of supplementary creep feed before weaning reduce the welfare severity of the transition.

What You Can Do

Support later weaning age in welfare certification standards
Advocate for creep feeding requirements in pig farm assurance schemes
Choose RSPCA Assured pork from systems with later weaning ages
Donate to pig welfare research at Roslin Institute
Engage with DEFRA consultation on pig welfare regulations to support welfare improvements at weaning