How to raise a healthy piglet

Oct 21, 2024

Raising healthy piglets is critical for successful swine production. Piglets are particularly vulnerable in the early stages of life, requiring a balanced approach to nutrition, environment, disease prevention, and overall management. The basis for a healthy piglet starts already with a healthy sow. In order to give the piglet the best conditions for a successful start, it is important to support intestinal development as early as possible in a positive way.

1. The sow

To give the piglet the best conditions for a successful start, it is important to support intestinal development as early as possible in a positive way – preferably even before birth through the mother sow’s diet. Targeted nutrition and feeding management can have a positive effect on the quality and quantity of colostrum.

Maternal imprinting, which refers to the transfer of microbes from the sow to the neonate during birth, suckle, and early life, helps to establish the neonate’s gut microbiome and shape the development of the gut barrier. The piglet‘s immune system development and, in turn, their growth and survival are influenced by the sow‘s microbiota.

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Video: Season 7, Episode 1: Managing Risk and Seeing Opportunities in U.S. Pork Production

Today’s episode features three guests discussing the similarities and differences between pork production in the United States and Brazil, along with strategies for managing risk in today’s industry while recognizing and acting on opportunities. First, Dr. Anne Caroline de Lara, executive manager of live pig production at Seara Alimentos, a JBS company in Brazil, is joined by Dr. Matthew Turner, head of operations for JBS Live Pork. Together, they discuss how labor, climate and ventilation challenges vary between Brazil and the United States, while underscoring their shared commitment to raising healthy pigs. They also point to lessons producers in both countries can take from one another’s systems and on-farm experiences. Then, Brady Reicks, risk manager at Reicks View Farms, shares his perspective on risk management, drawing from his background in markets and his transition into farming. He discusses how protecting margins varies by operation and offers practical approaches producers can use to make marketing and business decisions with greater confidence rather than hesitation.

Both conversations were recorded at recent industry events focused on swine livability, including the International Conference on Pig Livability and Iowa Swine Day.