Weaning marks a natural transition in a piglet’s early life, shifting from dependence on sow’s milk to consuming solid feed. This developmental stage involves physiological and behavioral changes that influence a piglet’s growth, health, and well-being. Navigating this period successfully impacts a piglet’s future development and productivity.
Understanding the Weaning Process
Weaning involves separating piglets from their mother and introducing them to a diet of solid feed and water. This transition occurs when piglets are between 21 and 28 days of age, though it can range from 14 to 35 days, influenced by farm practices, piglet development, and production goals. Piglets usually weigh around 6-8 kilograms at weaning.
Conventional weaning takes place between 3 to 5 weeks of age, when piglets weigh 5–10 kg. Early weaning, which can occur from 10 days to 3 weeks of age, or at weights of 4-5 kg, is employed to enhance sow productivity and reduce disease transmission. Specialized methods like Segregated Early Weaning (SEW) involve weaning piglets at less than 18 days old and moving them to isolated facilities to reduce disease load. Medicated Early Weaning (MEW) involves treating sows with antibiotics and weaning piglets at around 5 days of age to achieve pathogen-free pigs.
Minimizing Weaning Stress
Piglets face stressors during weaning, including nutritional changes, social disruption, environmental shifts, and maternal separation. These challenges can reduce feed intake and growth, and affect gastrointestinal tract function. Addressing these stressors helps ensure a smooth transition.
Nutritional strategies ease the dietary shift. Introducing highly digestible creep feed to piglets while they are still nursing helps them adapt to solid food. Providing a palatable starter diet with ingredients like dairy products and cooked cereals, along with adequate water, encourages feed and water intake immediately after weaning. Drip-feeding water or adding electrolytes also promotes hydration.
Environmental management supports piglet comfort and health. Maintaining an ideal temperature range, 28-30°C (82-86°F) immediately after weaning, helps newly weaned pigs stay within their thermoneutral zone. Ensuring good hygiene, good ventilation, and adequate space (a minimum of 0.25 m² per 20 kg piglet) helps reduce environmental stress. Providing supplementary heat sources and solid flooring, rather than only slatted floors, also prevents cold stress.
Social management involves grouping piglets carefully. Minimizing the mixing of different litters reduces aggression and stress, as piglets establish new social hierarchies. Health preparedness before weaning includes health checks and ensuring piglets have received sufficient colostrum from the sow, which provides passive immunity for about 10-14 days.
Addressing Post-Weaning Challenges
Piglets can face challenges after weaning. Two common issues are post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) and the “post-weaning growth check,” manifesting as reduced feed intake and growth. PWD, caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli), occurs within 10 days of weaning, often within 4-5 days. Symptoms include grayish or brownish watery feces, and sometimes fever and depression.
The “post-weaning growth check” is a period of reduced weight gain or even weight loss immediately after weaning. This lag negatively impacts lifetime growth, with pigs experiencing a significant check potentially adding 10 days to reach market weight. The sudden change in diet from highly digestible milk to more complex solid feed, coupled with stress, contributes to this issue.
Management strategies for these post-weaning issues focus on supportive care and a healthy environment. For PWD, treatment may involve water medication with antibiotics after sensitivity testing, alongside oral rehydration and maintaining warmth. To manage the growth check, encourage early and consistent feed intake. Providing highly digestible feed, ensuring clean water access, and adjusting feeder space to maximize intake helps piglets overcome this period. Consulting a veterinarian is recommended for severe cases or persistent problems.