Welfare and Performance of Post-Weaning Sows and Piglets Previously Housed in Farrowing Pens with Temporary Crating on a Spanish Commercial Farm: A Pilot Study

The study investigated the effect of farrowing environment on the weaning adaptability of sows and piglets. One farrowing crate (FC) and two farrowing pens with temporary crating (TC: SWAP and JLF15) were compared. Sixty-four sows and 663 piglets were followed until 5 days post-weaning. At weaning (D24), sows and piglets were moved to group pens and nursery pens, respectively. Sows and piglets' behaviors were observed on D24, D25, and D26. On D23, D25, and D26, piglets' skin lesions were counted, and sows and piglets' saliva samples were collected for stress biomarkers (cortisol and chromogranin A, CgA). Piglets were weighed on D23 and D29. All the piglets' skin lesions increased on D25 and decreased on D26 ( p < 0.05). Compared to D23, cortisol of JLF15 and CgA of FC piglets increased, whereas those of SWAP piglets remained similar after weaning ( p < 0.05). Post-weaning performance in piglets was similar across farrowing systems. SWAP sows vocalized more than FC and JLF15 on D24 and D25 ( p < 0.001). Results suggested that SWAP piglets showed a lower weaning stress response. Frequent post-weaning vocalization in SWAP sows might be linked with a negative effect of the abrupt separation from the piglets.