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The performance thief: gut health determines pig productivity
Farmer's Weekly
|July 3-10, 2026
Many of the factors that limit pig growth and feed efficiency begin in the gut long before visible disease appears. Understanding how gut health affects nutrient utilisation can help producers unlock better performance and avoid costly hidden losses. Lindi Botha reports.
In pig production systems, performance gaps often widen long before anything appears problematic in the pen.
Subtle changes in digestion, immune activity and nutrient utilisation can quietly erode efficiency, even when feed intake and general health seem normal.
At the centre of this hidden performance loss is the gut. As production pressure increases, maintaining intestinal stability becomes critical to sustaining growth, feed conversion, and uniformity within groups. According to Cara Nel, monogastric development manager at Vitam International, intestinal health plays a central role in feed efficiency, growth, and overall production performance.
“Because nutrient absorption takes place through the intestinal tract, gut health is one of the most important drivers of feed efficiency. When intestinal integrity is compromised, nutrient digestibility declines and maintenance energy requirements increase as the body responds to inflammation. Even mild intestinal inflammation can reduce growth efficiency significantly before producers notice any obvious signs of disease.”
BUILDING A HEALTHIER GUT
When gut health is compromised, pigs may continue consuming feed at normal levels while becoming less efficient at converting nutrients into growth.
Should the gut deteriorate further, feed intake may reduce, and pigs will have a diminished ability to utilise nutrients.
Maintaining gut health requires a combination of sound management practices and nutritional support.
Nel advises producers to focus on maintaining strong hygiene and biosecurity programmes, minimising feed changes, and supporting beneficial gut microflora.
‘EVEN MILD INTESTINAL INFLAMMATION CAN REDUCE GROWTH EFFICIENCY’
This story is from the July 3-10, 2026 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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