Weaning stress: A challenge in high performing piglets

Weaning stress and its consequences can have a lasting impact on health and performance. SCFAs, MCFAs and their glycerol esters play a role in strategies to improve the healthy development and resilience of piglets and reduce the use of antibiotics. The period around weaning is stressful. Social and environmental stresses occur as piglets are separated from their mothers and shifted to new environments. At the same time, easily digestible sow milk is replaced with predominantly plant-based solid feed while the digestive tract is still underdeveloped, and the barrier function is still incomplete. Therefore, piglets often show growth depression and are more susceptible to diseases, a phenomenon known as post-weaning stress syndrome. Consequently, a regular pro- and metaphylactic use of antimicrobials as well as therapeutical levels of ZnO, has been the standard approach to keep animals’ productivity. This has been contributing to increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is one o