Leman: Weaning acclimation impacts growth
Housing and social stability at weaning promote early feeding behavior
20 April 2026
1 minute read
By: [Excerpts of a presentation by Elle Ploeger and colleagues at South Dakota State University, USA, during the 2025 Leman Swine Conference]
Weaning represents an abrupt exposure of the pig to new social, nutritional, health and environmental challenges. This convergence of stressors often suppresses appetite, feeding behavior and compromises feed intake for days in a high-risk segment of weaned pig groups. Later weaning increases the robustness of the pig but with a loss of reproductive efficiency. Strategies that reduce environmental and social disruption during this period may improve post-weaning health in these pigs.
This study evaluated the effects of housing environment stability during weaning on growth performance, thermoregulation, and feeding behavior. A total of 293 piglets from 21 litters (weaning age: 18 ± 3 days; bodyweight: 5.65 ± 0.55 kg) were enrolled.
Eleven litters remained in their farrowing stalls post-weaning (STALLS), while ten litters were moved to conventional nursery pens (PENS). All pigs were fed a common, complex nursery diet formulated to meet or exceed NRC requirements. Individual body weights were recorded on days 0, 3, and 7 post-weaning. Feed disappearance was measured by PENS or STALLS to estimate average daily feed intake from days 0 to 7. Body temperatures were recorded every 24 hours for the first 72 hours post- weaning from a representative small, medium, and large pig in each PEN and STALL (STALL; n =33; PEN; n= 30). Feeding behavior was monitored for 6 PENS and 6 STALLS via video analysis to determine average eating time during the first 72 hours post-weaning.
Individual bodyweight did not differ between groups at any time point. However, pigs housed in STALLS tended to have reduced bodyweight loss from day 0 to 3 (−6.7 vs. −22.1 grams per day) and greater average daily gain from day 3 to 7 (191.5 vs. 163.4 grams per day) compared to the PEN group. Overall average daily gain from day 0 to 7 was greater in the STALL group than the PEN group (106 vs. 83 grams per day).
Additionally, pigs in STALLS tended to spend more time eating during the first 24 hours post-weaning (17.9 vs. 1.9 minutes) and maintained higher body temperature in the first 24 hours than the PEN group (102.6°F vs. 101.9°F). These findings suggest that housing and social stability at weaning promotes early post-weaning feeding behavior and intake. Improving feed intake supports thermo-regulation and early post-weaning growth which are key indicators of health and survival.
