Bioscientifica Proceedings

Studies of low birth weight offspring have a long history in pig science. These pigs have reduced growth potential and poor carcass quality compared to their higher birth weight littermates. In contemporary commercial sows with between 10 and 15 total pigs born/litter, between-litter differences in average birth weight appear to make the largest contribution to variation in postnatal growth performance, independent of numbers born. Low birth weight is a characteristic of...