Observations on the effects of weaning in the young pig. Clinical and histopathological studies of intestinal function and morphology.

A study of the effects of abrupt weaning on the very young pig showed that the samll intestine undergoes an acute inflammatory response and a reduction in plasma cell population by weaning day +7 or +8, in the absence of severe scours and abnormal proliferation by intestinal coliform bacteria. It is suggested that these changes may be common progenitors of nutritional and bacterial scours, and that they are due in part to increased metabolic activity of the "normal" microflora.