Increasing Piglet Pre-weaning Survival through Peri-Partum and Lactation Management

Dear Colleagues,

Piglet pre-weaning mortality (PWM) remains one of the main challenges of the pig industry worldwide. It is a welfare concern that results in decreased sow performance and important economic losses in swine industries. To add some context, production indices from different countries show how the introduction of hyper-prolific sow breeds has increased pigs born alive and pigs weaned per litter from 12.48 and 10.92 in 2011 to 14.12 and 12.64 in 2019, respectively. However, PWM, rather than dropping, has increased from 12.49% to 13.84% in the same period. Non-infectious causes of PWM are determined by a combination of piglet, sow, and environmental factors, while infectious causes are mainly due to digestive and respiratory problems. While causes of PWM have been widely reported, risk factors for each individual cause in all farrowing systems are not fully understood or established. Similarly, there is often a misclassification or lack of reporting of the exact cause of death on commercial farms and on research studies, with PWM usually being considered a single entity.
Moreover, the increase in litter size has brought with it an increase in the number of piglets born with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and low-birthweight piglets (e.g., piglets born weighing less than 1.2 kg). IUGR piglets are often deemed “non-viable” and contribute to PWM while low-birthweight piglets often lead to piglets with reduced weaning weight (e.g., pigs weaned at approximately 28 days weighing less than 5 kg). In addition, with sows rearing large litters (i.e., piglets born alive often outnumbering viable teats), proper colostrum intake early after birth and milk production have become limiting factors for piglets’ growth and performance. 
Most nutritional and management treatments to reduce PWM, to deal with non-viable and low birthweight piglets, are implemented treating all piglets as a cohort. However, there is variability on piglets’ response to such treatments, with some animals being able to survive and/or catch up in their growth, whereas others will not.
Original manuscripts and reviews on the abovementioned aspects directly related to PWM and/or rearing piglets in large litters are invited. Topics of special interest and sections to be covered in the present Special Issue are: 
1) Gestation interventions on piglets’ development and/or early survival; 
2) Peri-partum interventions on pre-weaning survival (e.g., farrowing protocols, colostrum intake, oral supplementation, thermoregulation, vitality); 
3) Fostering strategies (e.g., cross-fostering, nurse sows) and artificial rearing; 
4) IUGR and low-birthweight piglets; 
5) Risk factors of PWM and different causes of death.

Dr. Ramon Muns
Dr. Roger Davin
Dr. Christina Mulvenna
Guest Editors

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