Traditionally, research on farm animal welfare has mainly been focused on welfare
problems thought to be common in intensive systems, whereas the welfare of animals kept …

Newborn piglets have a high incidence of preweaning mortality that is not only associated
with low birth weights but also with the presence of intra-uterine growth-restricted (IUGR) …

This scientific opinion focuses on the welfare of pigs on farm, and is based on literature and
expert opinion. All pig categories were assessed: gilts and dry sows, farrowing and lactating …

Background The welfare of all animals under human management is an area of consistent
public concern, but strategies to improve welfare may vary across species. In this study …

Introduction Litter size in pigs has increased steadily since 1990. Because of unfavorable
genetic correlations with piglet mortality, breeding goals should include survival traits next to …

As a result of intensive breeding, litter size has considerably increased in pig production
over the last three decades. This has resulted in an increase in farrowing complications …

Over the past three decades, the litter size of most European domestic pig breeds has
approximately doubled (Oliviero et al., 2019). In the same period, the average duration of …

Piglet mortality is a problem with complex aetiology, predisposed by the natural biology of a
polytocous species which produces multiple offspring allocated disproportionate resources …

The practice of breeding from hyperprolific sows producing very large litters is becoming a
normal occurrence in commercial pig production. However, the relationship between large …

The transition period from late gestation to early lactation is rather short, but it is nonetheless
of major importance for the productivity of high-prolific sows. The transition period, here …