Chilean Commercial Study: Tonisity Px Supports Piglet Survival and Vitality

Tonisity conducted a commercial study on a 4,000-sow farm in Chile to evaluate the effect of Tonisity Px on piglet pre-weaning mortality (PWM) in the farrowing house. Tonisity Px is an isotonic protein drink containing gut-enhancing bioactives, designed to deliver targeted nutrition directly to the intestinal cells of piglets.

Historically, the farm produces 2.3 litters per sow per year, with an average of 15 piglets born alive per litter. This represents approximately 138,000 piglets per year, with a historical pre-weaning mortality rate of 9.8%. The Tonisity Px and control groups were well balanced for sow parity and litter size.

In this Chilean commercial study, feeding Tonisity Px from Day 2 to Day 8 of life resulted in:

• 25% lower pre-weaning mortality overall

• 40% lower pre-weaning mortality in litters from parity 3–6 sows

• 15% lower pre-weaning mortality in litters from parity 1–2 sows

• 33% fewer piglet deaths attributed to crushing

What could this mean at farm level?

Based on the results of this study, feeding Tonisity Px to all piglets from Day 2 to Day 8 was estimated to result in 0.55 additional piglets per sow per year, equivalent to approximately 2,200 additional piglets per year on this 4,000-sow farm.

Study at a glance

Study type: Commercial farm study

Location: Chile

Farm size: 4,000 sows

Study ID: 21-013-P-P

Study population: 224 litters

Treatment: Tonisity Px, 500 ml per litter per day of a 3% solution

Treatment period: Day 2 to Day 8 of life

Comparator: Control piglets receiving no additional supplementation from Day 2 to Day 8

Primary outcome: Pre-weaning mortality

Study feeding plan

Tonisity Px piglets received 500 ml per litter per day of a 3% Tonisity Px solution from Day 2 to Day 8 of life, with the farrowing day considered Day 1 (Figure 1).

Control piglets received no additional supplementation from Day 2 to Day 8.

Both groups received dry creep feed from Day 10 until weaning at Day 20.

In both groups, AcidWean (vitamins, electrolytes, sweetener and acidifier) was provided at 500 ml per litter per day throughout the pre-weaning period for runt litters and for five to seven days for litters experiencing diarrhoea, regardless of treatment group.

The water used for Tonisity Px reconstitution was filtered using a HydroLife 300 filter to ensure optimal microbiological and chemical quality.

Data collection

Pre-weaning mortality (PWM) records included:

• number of piglet deaths by litter;

• mortality rate; and

• apparent cause of death, categorised as crushing, diarrhoea, euthanasia or starvation.

Pre-Weaning Mortality

Pre-weaning mortality in this study was lower than the 13.2% international benchmark reported by the InterPIG Consortium, providing important context for interpreting the results in this commercial herd.

Overall pre-weaning mortality in the Tonisity Px group was 1.6 percentage points lower than in the control group, representing a 25% relative reduction in pre-weaning mortality (P = 0.07) (Figure 3). This was equivalent to approximately 0.24 additional piglets per litter and 16 additional piglets surviving per 1,000 born.

This results in an extra 0.24 piglets per litter, and an extra 16 piglets for every 1,000 born.

The results of this Chilean study were also consistent with Tonisity's global mortality evidence available at the time of the original analysis. That dataset included 148,170 pigs in 12,442 litters across 22 countries, with average pre-weaning mortality of 9.5% in Tonisity Px groups compared with 11.8% in control groups, representing a 20% relative reduction

Evidence update – August 2026: Since this study was originally published, Tonisity's global evidence base has expanded substantially. For the latest aggregated evidence on Tonisity Px and pre-weaning piglet survival, see our latest global Tonisity Px meta-analysis.

Mortality by parity

In this study, we investigated whether TPX had a preferential effect on litters of young vs. older sows. To achieve this, the data was reanalysed, and litters were categorised based on sow parity into parity 1-2, parity 3-6 and parity 7. The Tonisity Px effect was most significant in parity 3-6 sows. The PWM for TPX piglets in this groups represented a 40% reduction with a P value of 0.02.

This would result in an extra 0.48 piglets per litter, and an extra 32 piglets for every 1,000 born!

Mortality by cause of death

The main cause of death for the piglets in this study was crushing, followed by starvation and then diarrhea and euthanasia respectively. It is significant to note that PWM, as a result of crushing, for the TPX group showed a 33% reduction with a P value of 0.03.

Recommendations

Tonisity Px should be administered to all piglets in all littersTo ensure optimum Tonisity Px consumption:Tonisity Px solution should be reconstituted dailyFeeding pans should be cleaned, especially for litters prone to diarrheaFeeding pans should be correctly positioned, to ensure piglet do not soil the Tonisity Px solution, and so that all piglets have access to the solution without having to go around the sowThe feeding pans should be checked for leaksTo ensure optimal weaning weights and a smooth weaning transition, it is recommended to administer Tonisity Px for three days pre-weaning on top of creep feed. There has been great success when administering Tonisity Px in small amounts as a top-dressing at day 9 to 10 to 11, when creep feed is first introduced.Both strategies help improve creep feed consumption and prepare the pig for the transition to a solid feed diet.