Under intensive farming systems, weaned piglets often face welfare challenges including food neophobia, reduced feed intake, and diarrhea. To address these issues, this study leverages the sow’s natural feeding behavior to guide piglets, enhancing their ability to learn to eat solid feed during lactation and improving digestive function. A total of 12 sows and 99 piglets were assigned to two groups: a Sow-Learning group (SL, n = 6), where piglets observed and learned feeding behavior from sows, and a Separate-Feeding group (SF, n = 6), where sows and piglets fed independently. Results showed that the SL group’s feed intake at 36–39 days of age was significantly higher than that of the SF group (p < 0.05). For weaned piglets, the diarrhea rate of the SL group was significantly lower than that of the SF group (p < 0.05). The SL group’s manipulation behavior (towards feed) during suckling and weaning was significantly higher than that of the SF group (p < 0.05). Compared with the SF group, weaned piglets in the SL group demonstrated stronger immune capacity, longer jejunal villi, a higher villus-to-crypt ratio, shallower crypt depth, and greater antioxidant capacity (p < 0.05). In summary, learning feeding behavior from sows improved piglet welfare and promoted jejunal development.
Zhou et al. (Wed,) studied this question.