A Review of Segregated Early Weaning

Segregated early weaning is the process of taking baby pigs from the farrowing crate at an early age and then rearing them in a different building on the farm, or better yet, at an off-site nursery. This group of pigs is then raised segregated from the rest of the pigs on the farm in an all-in/all-out fashion. This method of rearing pigs was developed in an effort to minimize the transmission of infectious diseases from the dams to their offspring. If this goal can be accomplished and segregation of the group maintained, these pigs will have less disease pressure in the nursery, the grower, and the finisher and thus reach market weight sooner and more economically. This is important considering the current hog market trend of decreasing profit margins