Later weaning in organic piglet production – what happens from seven to ten weeks?

Summary

Later weaning in organic piglet production – what happens from seven to ten weeks?
Background: Extending the lactation is one strategy to reduce the risk of post weaning diarrhea. Organic EU regulations stipulate that pigs shall be fed with maternal milk for a minimum of 40 days. In Denmark, the majority of organic piglets are weaned at minimum seven weeks of age due to a national industry agreement. Recent years the average lactation period has increased even further to eight weeks and a few large-scale pig producers even extended weaning age to ten weeks in pasture systems to improve piglet robustness at weaning. However, very little is known about the period from seven to ten weeks of lactation e.g. in relation to piglet solid feed intakes and growth, sow-piglet interactions, sow body condition and whether the sows are still lactating after ten weeks.