{"id":5281,"date":"2026-01-22T16:16:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T09:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/staging\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/herd-grouping-optimal-management-of-piglets-nursed-by-sows-and-weaned-piglets\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T10:24:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T03:24:01","slug":"herd-grouping-optimal-management-of-piglets-nursed-by-sows-and-weaned-piglets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/en\/herd-grouping-optimal-management-of-piglets-nursed-by-sows-and-weaned-piglets\/","title":{"rendered":"HERD GROUPING, OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF PIGLETS NURSED BY SOWS AND WEANED PIGLETS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nIn breeding sows, grouping piglets is very important. So, why is it necessary to group pigs? Herd grouping, matching is not only economically significant for farm owners but also manage the pig herd, take care of pig herd evenly and healthily, help newborn piglets not be stunted, or manage the sows with milk insufficiency to nurse their piglets or have poor physical condition.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n1.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Benefits of grouping pig herds and important notes<\/h2>\n

In breeding sows, grouping piglets is very important. So, why is it necessary to group pigs? Herd grouping, matching is not only economically significant for farm owners but also manage the pig herd, take care of pig herd evenly and healthily, help newborn piglets not be stunted, or manage the sows with milk insufficiency to nurse their piglets or have poor physical condition.
\nWith current genetic advances in breeding, hyperprolific sows have high reproductive performance; the rate of sows giving many piglets is increasingly common and requires optimal care conditions.
\nToday, for the piglets, it is necessary to rely on many factors to decide weaning such as the age, weight and feed intake of piglets. In particular, the weight of piglets at weaning has a great influence on the pig’s ability to develop later. Therefore, when weaning, they must reach a certain weight. For example, if a 20-day-old piglet weighs less than 5kg, it is necessary to group the herd so that the piglets can continue to feed the milk more.<\/p>\n

Following issues should be taken into account when herd grouping:
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Do not group the piglets that show signs of infection. If these piglets are transferred to new herd, their conditions will worsen and affect the own piglets of lactating sows.
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Grouping the piglets should be done within the first 4 days after birth. In special cases, it should only be done within the first 7 days after birth.
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Small piglets should be kept to be nursed by their mother and larger piglets will be transferred to other herd.
\n\u2022 \u00a0 \u00a0Do not transfer the piglets to the lactating sows that have given birth to less than 5 piglets because these sows often have a milk insufficiency.
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Before transferring the piglets, ensure that they are fully fed colostrum before piglet grouping.<\/p>\n

\n2.\u00a0 \u00a0Appropriate herd grouping method<\/h2>\n

If the sow has an accident or is unable to nurse their piglets due to MMA, the piglets should be separated and transferred to group to the lactating sows in other herds. For the smallest piglets, try to provide them with enough colostrum from other sows.<\/p>\n

One of grouping methods is to transfer all piglets of sow that farrowed before one week of birth to a sow whose own piglets are close to weaning. The piglets of nurse sow are weaned early. At this time, the farm will have one more sow to make the herd grouping.
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0The herd grouping to balance the number of piglets raised: this method is applied to sows that give birth at the same time and raise the same number of piglets.
\n\u2022\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Grouping the piglets of sow to a sow that gave birth later: in case of stopping a lactation period from the sow, but their own piglets do not meet the weaning standards, these piglets need to be grouped to another herd to continue suckling. However, the sick piglets should not be transferred to other group.
\nWhen grouping, the piglets should be divided into two groups for example, a heavyweight group of 4 piglets and a lightweight group of 6 piglets. The first should be isolated from the mother sow for about 80~120 minutes; during this time, the latter will be suckled then let the first to be suckled.
\nWeaning in stages: The piglets in the same herd should be weaned with the heavyweight piglets first and the lightweight piglets later. This method is often applied to farms that wean twice a week; however, it can disrupt the farrowing cycle of the sow.
\nIf the piglets weigh less than 5kg, they should not be weaned but should be continue to be suckled until they reach 5kg.<\/p>\n

Citied source: From the Pig & Pork
\n

\n
FAQ<\/div>\n
\n
1.<\/span> Why is proper piglet grouping important?<\/div>\n
Proper grouping helps reduce stress, minimize fighting among piglets, promote uniform growth, and improve management efficiency after weaning.<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
2.<\/span> What factors should be considered when grouping piglets?<\/div>\n
Farmers should group piglets with similar body size, age, and health condition to reduce feed competition and prevent overcrowding within the group.<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
3.<\/span> How can farmers effectively manage piglets after weaning?<\/div>\n
After weaning, farmers should maintain clean housing, provide suitable temperatures, ensure balanced nutrition, and regularly monitor piglet health to support healthy adaptation and stable growth.<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In breeding sows, grouping piglets is very important. So, why is it necessary to group pigs? Herd grouping, matching is not only economically significant for farm owners but also manage the pig herd, take care of pig herd evenly and healthily, help newborn piglets not be stunted, or manage the sows with milk insufficiency to nurse their piglets or have poor physical condition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[763,773],"tags":[],"type_breed":[857],"type_livestock":[847],"class_list":["post-5281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-livestock-consultant","category-livestock-management","type_breed-breeding-pigs","type_livestock-cattle"],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":5281,"vi":5267},"pll_sync_post":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5281"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7322,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5281\/revisions\/7322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5281"},{"taxonomy":"type_breed","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_breed?post=5281"},{"taxonomy":"type_livestock","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfeed.com.vn\/thuc-an-chan-nuoi-gia-suc-gia-cam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_livestock?post=5281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}