A guide for preparing Piglet Milk in the best way

When to start?

After one day of colostrum, once the piglet has received sufficient colostrum for antibodies, the piglet can start drinking piglet milk in addition to sow milk from the second day onwards. In this way, the piglet’s needs are met to optimally grow, and the sow is supported at the same time.

Temperature of the milk

Our advice for preparing piglet milk is to use water at a temperature of 40-45°C. For this, use a tap with a thermostat or a thermometer to check. The right temperature ensures good stability and also solubility of the piglet milk. Preparing the piglet milk with water that’s too cold could result in the powder dissolving less effectively. To avoid this you could use Porcolac Quick a cold soluble piglet milk. When you are preparing piglet milk with water that’s too hot, there is a risk of damaging the proteins making them less digestible (denaturation).

It’s also important to not mix for too long. When preparing the piglet milk, make sure to not mix for more than 1 minute. Mixing for too long (>5 min) increases the risk of oxygen infiltration and butter formation.

Concentration of the milk

In addition to the correct temperature, it is also very important to use the correct concentration for the milk powder. We recommend a concentration of 175 grams of milk powder per liter of water. Use a scale to measure the right amount of powder needed to prepare the right quantity of liquid piglet milk. Prepare the milk and feed it directly to the piglets so that the milk does not cool down too much.

Hygiene

After providing the milk to the piglets, don’t forget to clean your tools. Hygiene is important when providing piglet milk, but also when preparing it. Therefore, make sure that your bucket, measuring cup, and whisk are cleaned daily with warm water and soap. In addition, don’t forget the feeding bowl. Clean the feeding bowl regularly to prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi. It is also not advised to add fresh piglet milk to the feeding bowl when there is still some milk present from the previous batch. In this case, remove the remaining milk from the feeding bowl before adding fresh new milk.

For further explanations of how to prepare piglet milk, watch the video in which colleague Laura van der Woude takes you through the steps and the points to pay attention to.

If you’re still unsure about supplementing piglet milk, read more about why you should supplement piglet milk.

Check out the range of Porcolac piglet milk products here or contact your local distributor.