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Normoxic Oxygen at Birth Enhances Piglet Growth and Survival Under Tropical Farm Conditions
by
, and
Phoo Pwint Pwint Thu
1, 
Rafa Boonprakob
2,
Padet Tummaruk
1,3
,
Roy Kirkwood
4 and
Nutthee Am-In
1,3,* 1
Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, and Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
2
Department of Quality Assurance and Animal Health Office, Livestock Production Betagro Group, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
3
Centre of Excellence in Swine Reproduction, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
4
School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Adelaide University, Roseworthy Campus, Roseworthy, SA 5371, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2026, 16(1), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16010111 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 18 November 2025
/
Revised: 23 December 2025
/
Accepted: 28 December 2025
/
Published: 30 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Animal Reproduction)
Simple Summary
Modern sows often give birth to large litters, which can prolong farrowing and cause oxygen shortages in newborn piglets. Piglets that do not get enough oxygen at birth are weak, suckle poorly, and have a higher risk of death. This field study tested a simple remedy, giving newborn piglets normal air containing 21% oxygen for 15 min right after birth. The study included almost 1800 piglets from a commercial farm in Thailand. Piglets that received oxygen showed higher blood oxygen levels, drank more colostrum, had higher blood sugar, and were more likely to survive the first three days. The results show that restoring normal oxygen levels is a practical and low-cost way to improve piglet vitality and survival in tropical farms.
Abstract
Neonatal piglet mortality remains a major challenge in hyper-prolific sow herds, particularly under tropical conditions where low ambient oxygen (18–21%) may exacerbate hypoxia during prolonged farrowing. This study evaluated whether restoring normoxia (21% O2) immediately after birth improved piglet colostrum intake, blood glucose levels, and survival to 3 d. A total of 1837 piglets from 95 sows were weighed at birth and assigned by litter to exposure to either a normoxic chamber (FiO2 = 0.21) or ambient-air control (FiO2 = 0.16–0.18) for 15 min post-partum. Piglet colostrum intake, blood glucose content, and survival to 24-h and 3 d were analyzed using mixed-effects models. Compared with controls, oxygen-supplemented piglets showed higher postnatal oxygen saturation (94.2 ± 3.6 vs. 88.1 ± 3.5%), greater colostrum intake (348 ± 263 vs. 320 ± 233 g), higher blood glucose (97.7 ± 13.0 vs. 93.8 ± 13.1 mg/dL), and increased 3-day survival (86.1% vs. 80.8%; p < 0.01). The effect was most pronounced in piglets < 1.0 kg and >1.3 kg, reflecting improved recovery from transient hypoxia. Mean weaning weight increased by 0.3 kg, indicating sustained benefits in early growth. These findings demonstrate that short-term normoxic oxygen supplementation is a practical, cost-effective intervention that enhances growth, metabolic stability, and survival in neonatal piglets under tropical commercial farm conditions.
