EUNICE LEE reports that the addition of a lauric acid and glycerol monolaurate feed additive to the diets of sow diets during the critical transition period improves litter size and piglet birthweights, and stimulates sows’ milk production, resulting in better performance during the weaning period.

DENISE CARDOSO, TIM GOOSSENS and VISHWAS GOWDA discuss some nutritional strategies to increase the resilience of piglets against post-weaning stress.

MARIA WALSH and MARIANA MASIERO discuss a multi-faceted nutritional approach that targets piglet immune competency via early microbial colonization of the gut and systemic immune transfer from sows to piglets. Alternative nutritional solutions can help produce heavier and stronger piglets at weaning by developing immune competence.

The farm health team is composed of a number of different characters all playing their own role. These roles, however, may conflict with each other.

MIEKE ZOON presents that supplementation with a highly available zinc glycinate can be a good strategy to reduce losses during chilling of the carcass and oxidation of cooked meat, retaining pork quality better over time.

Effective phytases are currently available in the market, however, according to RACHAEL HARDY, there is still room for improvement, including high activity at low pH conditions which prevail in the upper digestive tract.