Healthy gut, healthy piglet ❤️‍🩹🐷

Weaning is a critical life stage: piglets that adapt well continue to perform well into the finishing stage – and the opposite also applies. Stressed piglets can consume less feed, engage in harmful behavior, and become susceptible to a host of diseases.

• Particularly, when it comes to feed consumption, pigs that are able to digest nutrients more efficiently can put on more pounds, quicker. If a piglet is stressed, however, the inadequate feed intake that follows leads to insufficient dietary nutrient utilization and local inflammation.

All in all, research has shown that a young pig’s gut is key to their health. For instance, gut and lung immune systems are especially connected: it's possible that a respiratory disorder could enter the pig through its gastrointestinal tract, as is the opposite. Interesting, right? To learn more, read this article – and be sure to access the Swine Health Hub, sponsored by Elanco, for similar content!