{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T05:05:18Z","timestamp":1780376718756,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,31]],"date-time":"2026-05-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1780185600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Under intensive farming conditions, a decline in feed intake after weaning in suckling piglets often results in reduced body weight or diarrhea. We hypothesized that a sow\u2013piglet co-feeding strategy during the suckling period\u2014in which piglets participate in the sow\u2019s feeding process and consume both lactating sow feed and creep feed\u2014could alleviate certain aspects of weaning stress. To test this hypothesis, 102 newborn piglets (Large White \u00d7 Duroc \u00d7 Min Pig) were selected and divided into a co-feeding group (CF) and a non-co-feeding group (NCF), based on whether they had access to the sow\u2019s feed during lactation. The study investigated the effects of the two feeding strategies on piglet growth performance, diarrhea incidence, behavior, and post-weaning immune status, intestinal morphology, and antioxidant capacity. The results showed that the CF group had significantly higher body weight at the end of the nursery period (p &lt; 0.05) and a significantly lower post-weaning observed fecal staining rate (p &lt; 0.05). At 16\u201317 days post-weaning, piglets in the CF group exhibited a significant increase in feeding behavior (p &lt; 0.05). Compared with the NCF group, the CF group showed highly significant reductions in serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-\u03b1), and interferon-gamma (IFN-\u03b3) (p &lt; 0.01), as well as significantly increased intestinal superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities (p &lt; 0.05) and significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) content (p &lt; 0.05). In terms of intestinal morphology, the CF group had a highly significant increase in the villus-to-crypt ratio in the jejunum (p &lt; 0.01) and a highly significant reduction in crypt depth (p &lt; 0.05), while villus length did not differ significantly between groups (p &gt; 0.05). Overall, in the present study, sow\u2013piglet co-feeding during the suckling period effectively alleviated weaning stress and reduced the incidence of diarrhea. These beneficial effects appear to be associated with reduced inflammatory responses, enhanced antioxidant capacity, and improved intestinal morphology. It should be noted that the relatively late weaning age used in this study likely facilitated the piglets\u2019 ability to efficiently utilize solid feed and derive benefits from the co-feeding strategy. Therefore, caution should be exercised when extrapolating these findings to earlier weaning ages, at which the digestive tract is less mature.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16111690","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,1]],"date-time":"2026-06-01T08:09:16Z","timestamp":1780301356000},"page":"1690","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effects of Sow\u2013Piglet Co-Feeding on Post-Weaning Welfare and Jejunal Morphological Development in Suckling Piglets"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Xuanning","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-4501-7932","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhihao","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ying","family":"Qian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yufu","family":"Shu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yameng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhiyang","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhonghui","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2519-6065","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sitong","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0376-3623","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Honggui","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Swine Facilities, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Houjuan","family":"Xing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"},{"name":"Key Laboratory of Swine Facilities, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Northeast Agricultural University, No. 600 Changjiang Road, Harbin 150030, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tang, X.P., Xiong, K.N., Fang, R.J., and Li, M.J. 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