Tips to successfully group sows with suckling piglets:

• The maximum age difference between the piglets should be no more than 6 days – otherwise there is a risk that the suckling orders break and the strongest piglets look for the best mother.

• The grouping should be done when the youngest piglets are at least 10 days old.

• A sick sow should never be rehoused in a group or left in it: The grouping only works when all animals are fit.

• A sow should never be rehoused into a group later. This leads to extreme unrest with negative consequences for all piglets.

• Young sows should only be integrated as a group. A single young sow could founder in a group of older sows.

• All sows of a group should know each other beforehand: a fixed order of rank is formed more quickly, and the period of violent conflicts is shortened.

• Permanently incompatible sows should not be put together in one group.

• Large groups of gestating sows are easier to manage in the long term than smaller groups. Maximum size: Reports from practice recommend groups of max. 8 sows, since “cross suckling” increases significantly when the group is bigger - presumably due to the greater unrest in the group.

• For a group of 6 or more sows two openings/hatches/exits are recommended.

• Adequate individual housing places should be provided as a reserve: there will always be sows that cannot be included in a group.