Nursery Pig Welfare: Post-Weaning Management

Key Welfare Considerations

• Post-weaning pigs face simultaneous challenges of dietary change, social disruption, and environmental novelty.
• Pen design for nursery welfare requires 0.15-0.20m² per pig with solid partitions reducing cross-contamination.
• Temperature management is critical — newly weaned pigs require 28-30°C ambient temperature for welfare.
• Creep heaters and heat mats provide welfare focal warming for piglets in the first week post-weaning.
• Post-weaning anorexia lasting 24-48 hours is common — welfare nutritional support may be required.
• Highly palatable liquid diets in the immediate post-weaning period improve welfare feed intake and gut transition.
• Water access must be immediately available — drinker height and flow rate welfare are critical.
• Weaning diarrhoea from E. coli causes rapid welfare deterioration — early detection and treatment is essential.
• Respiratory disease emergence within 2-4 weeks of weaning requires welfare surveillance and prompt action.
• Mixing of pigs from different sows and litters causes welfare aggression — partial mixing strategies reduce impact.
• Tail biting welfare risk is high in nursery pigs — substrate provision and stocking density management reduce risk.
• Post-weaning PMWS (porcine multisystemic wasting syndrome from PCV2) requires welfare vaccination protocols.
• Greasy pig disease (Staphylococcus hyicus) causes welfare exudative dermatitis requiring antibiotic treatment.
• Growth rate monitoring as a welfare indicator — slow-growing pigs ('tail-enders') need welfare-prioritised attention.
• Exit welfare audits at nursery stage transition identify management welfare improvements for future batches.