The Low Feed Intake in Newly-weaned Pigs: Problems and Possible Solutions

The low feed intake immediately after weaning is responsible for villous atrophy and reduced growth rate in newlyweaned pigs. Overcoming this drawback will produce beneficial results for swine producers, and this warrants an understanding of the factors affecting the feed intake in newly-weaned pigs. In fact, a plethora of factors exert influences on feed intake in newly-weaned pigs, and these factors encompass health status, creep feeding, weaning age, mixing of litters, environment, dietary nutrient level and balance, palatability of ingredients, forms of diet presentation, water supply and quality, and stockmanship. Due to the complexity of the factors that affect the feed intake of weaned pigs, a comprehensive approach should be adopted to overcome the low feed intake problem right after weaning. It warrants mention that it is almost impossible to completely restore the feed intake just after weaning to preweaning level in terms of energy intake through dietary means which are available for being practiced economically and/or technically in current swine production. However, a refined dietary regime will certainly alleviate the low feed intake problem in the immediate postweaning period. (