The development of digestive function in the pig

The newborn piglet has a digestive system which is well adapted to a diet of its own dam's milk, indeed if a sow has a plentiful supply of milk it is very difficult to interest her piglets in any alternative food, certainly for the 1 s t 1-2 weeks of life.Little supplementary food is actually eaten to start with.The piglets sniff the food, nuzzle it and taste it.Food that has been in the pen for some hours does not attract piglets and regular replacement of stale food with fresh is necessary if it is hoped to encourage piglets to learn to eat dry food.Some litters show much more interest than others, but by 2 1 d of age most will be eating appreciable amounts of supplementary food if one has persevered with the presentation of fresh food each day for the previous 1-14 d.For trouble-free rearing of piglets it is desirable to provide supplementary diets which are suited to the digestive capacity of the piglet.