It’s important to understand how to wean piglets if you’re a pig parent. They say that weaning is the most stressful period in a pig’s life, so it’s critical that you prepare for the process as early as possible.
Weaning is the process of transitioning piglets from nursing from its mother to eating independently. Ideally it should be carried out between the 3rd and 4th week after birth, depending on the weight of the pig.
So you can probably imagine how stressful this process is not just for the pig owner, but for the pig itself. It means introducing a lot of new things, something that can impact not only the pig’s growth, but its overall well-being as well.
How to Wean Your Pig
Let’s start with the basics — when is the best time to wean your piglet?
Honestly, it isn’t really just up to you to decide when to start the weaning process. Much of the timing is also based on your piglets and the sow.
Watch out for signs that your piglet is ready to wean. Look at how dependent (or independent) they are from their mother. When you force the piglets to wean when they are still 100% dependent on their mothers, this could be traumatic for them. Trauma can be risky to their health.
The ideal weaning age would be anywhere between the pig’s 4th week to its 8th week.
Check on your sow as well. Especially if it’s a huge litter, the sow might get too tired of feeding a big number of piglets at the same time.
Should you notice that the sow is getting tired, you can check the most independent ones among all the piglets and start weaning them ahead of the others. This way, you have a healthy sow as well. Just make sure that the weaning for these independent piglets does not happen before the 4th month.
How to Minimize Piglet Stress During Weaning
Because weaning can have such a huge impact on a pig’s growth and overall wellness, it is important to reduce the amount of stress the pig goes through as much as possible.
Here are a few factors you have to look at in the process of weaning your pig.
Environment
You’re going to remove the piglet from its mother’s presence, so expect some separation anxiety. This is why you need to make sure you’re moving the piglet to a place where it will be extremely comfortable.
Make sure the place is clean. There should be proper ventilation as well.
Check the temperature and make sure it’s somewhere around 83 degrees F. Try to preheat the area before moving the piglet as well, as the pig might be shocked by the initial temperature after leaving its mother’s side (where it’s definitely warm).
Prepare the right kind of bedding, too. Since a piglet’s skin is more sensitive than that of a full-grown pig, make sure you choose the right material. There are different kinds of wheat that are comfortable enough and can keep your piglet warm. You can even let your piglet use blankets and pillows if you want.
Piglet Handling
How would you handle a human baby? With gentleness, of course!
The same thing applies to a piglet. If you have to move it from one place to another, be gentle with it and handle it with care.
Never carry it using its front legs, it will break the piglet’s shoulders. Extreme care is needed in picking it up by its back legs too, as suddenly snatching it up will most likely break its hips.
The best way to handle it would be to pick it up by both of its hind legs, with one of your hands supporting its chest.
Of course, as much as possible, don’t pick it up and transfer it from one place to another. Move it only when necessary. Most of the time, handling it would only be required when it’s due for a health checkup or scheduled for vaccinations.
Transitioning to Feeds
Before transitioning to feeds, remember this — the mother’s milk has all the nutrients that a piglet requires. Even the best feeds in the market will not be able to give the same nutritional quality that milk has.
This is why it is highly important that pigs are not weaned before the 4th week.
You can start introducing some feeds (creep feeds, as they are called) a few weeks before weaning. Start slow and give the piglet only around 1.5 to 2.5 lbs at the start. Alternating this and the sow’s milk will allow the piglet to familiarize themselves with what they’ll be eating post-weaning as early as possible.
When choosing feeds, make sure you check nutritional content. Find the kind of feeds that would be closest to the mother’s milk as much as possible. You can even find feeds that actually smell like the sow’s milk, or find ways to add some of the sow’s milk into the feeds so that the piglets will not turn away from it.
Once the piglets are ready to wean, start them out with the same creep feeds you used while they were still nursing. Because this is familiar, the piglets would most likely not be bothered by the transition that much.
Note that a piglet’s digestive system at this point is still sensitive, so don’t transition to a different kind of feed all of a sudden. If you want to shift to a different kind of starter feed, do the same practice you did during weaning. Introduce the new feed little by little, overlapping with the old feed, until the piglets become more familiar with it.
Don’t forget to provide enough water for the piglets as well. They need to stay hydrated to stay healthy.
Feeding System
It’s going to be tempting to experiment with complicated feeding systems especially if it’s your first time to care for freshly-weaned pigs.
You have to remember, however, that these piglets are still under stress from being taken away from their mother. So as much as possible, start out simple.
Start out with fresh feed placed on mats. This makes it easy for your piglets to feed. It’s also good to know that piglets love feeding in groups. So if you have more than one piglet to care for, mats are perfect because it leaves them enough room to eat together.
From there, you can start trying out different feeder types.
Because pigs are naturally curious, it would be exciting for them trying to figure out how to eat from these feeders. From there, observe and find out what kind of adjustments you can make to make the feeding process a lot easier and less stressful for them.
Related Questions
How often do piglets nurse?
Piglets nurse every 30 to 80 minutes. On the first two weeks of a piglet’s life, expect it to be nursing around 30% of the time. By the time it reaches its 6th week, it would become less dependent on the sow and would only feed around 15% of the time.
What should be done to pigs after being born?
As early as 15 minutes after being born, a piglet’s teeth should be clipped. Piglets are usually born with 8 teeth. If these teeth aren’t clipped, the piglets will end up hurting the sow when they start suckling to feed.
How many times can a pig get pregnant in a year?
A sow can get pregnant up to two times a year. And each time it gives birth, it can produce at least 10 piglets for each batch. Each regular pregnancy cycle lasts for 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days.