Piglet’s first bites; teach your piglets how to eat

Piglets can best be compared to our babies, we also have to teach them how to eat. In addition to milk, babies first get some ‘practice snacks’ of porridge, vegetables, or fruit. All this in small amounts. This is no different for piglets: they have to learn that there is more than sow milk. You can imagine that drinking warm milk from the udder is very different from eating (dry) feed from a feeding trough! This is not only different in composition (dairy or vegetable raw materials), but also in form and structure (liquid or a porridge/dry grain or flour). And don’t forget: piglets have to learn to find the feed themselves and that there is a distinction between ‘thirst’ and ‘hunger’.

Of course, feed intake in the farrowing pen also contributes to the growth of piglets during the suckling phase, but the sow’s milk remains the largest supplier of nutrients for the piglets. The most important thing about supplementary feeding in the farrowing pen is to prepare the piglets for the weaning process to be healthier and start better after weaning.

Do you know how much your piglets (should) eat?

We can make an easy calculation for this. Just before weaning, piglets drink an average of 1 liter of sow’s milk per day. Sow’s milk consists of approximately 20% dry matter, so this means that piglets ingest approximately 200 g of dry matter via the sow’s milk. In addition, piglets eat approximately 50 grams of a pre-starter on the day before weaning (around 26 days of age). In total, this amounts to a feed intake of 250 grams per piglet on the day of weaning.

On the day of weaning, piglets experience a lot of stress. If no further attention is paid to this, the feed intake drops to 50 grams per piglet on the day of weaning. This is much less than the piglets were used to and too little to properly maintain the body. Let alone to grow! If the piglets get hungry after a few days, they eat more than they can digest at that moment and often get diarrhea.

There are many tools to get the feed intake as high as possible in the first days after weaning.

Learning to eat in the farrowing pen is a requirement: start providing a tasty and easily digestible product in time. Give the piglets feed that matches their digestive capacity and needs. If the feed is not digested properly, it is a breeding ground for (harmful) bacteria and a piglet will get a stomach ache and sometimes even diarrhea. This achieves the exact opposite and they will not quickly forget this negative association with feed.

But also think about how often the piglets are fed. The piglets are given something to drink 24 times a day by the sow. So go into the department often in the first days after weaning to feed the piglets small amounts. This allows you to use the curiosity that piglets naturally have! The accessibility of the feed trough and drinking nipple are also essential; can the piglets easily eat together, is there sufficient light in the department and is there fresh water in the pipes?

It would be nice if all piglets at least ate 150 grams of feed on the day of weaning. This feed should match the digestion and needs of these young animals. After that, the feed intake should be gradually built up.

 Piglet milk is important for good weaning preparation.

In preparing piglets for the weaning moment providing piglet milk during the suckling phase next to creep feed would be a beneficial strategy. Piglet milk contributes to strengthening the gut health of the piglets, helps them to learn to eat, and makes the transition from liquid to dry feed before and at weaning easier. This is also seen back in research where providing piglet milk during the suckling phase stimulated the creep feed intake before weaning and resulted in a higher feed intake post-weaning. This ensures a smooth and healthy weaning process and contributes to improved growth before and after weaning.