In certain circumstances, underfed piglets are artificially reared with milk replacer, mimicking feeding setups used in biomedical research. A new study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign asks a deceptively simple question: what is the best way to feed artificially reared pigs? Over the 15-day feeding study, the team tracked everything from the piglets’ body weight, insulin concentration, behavior, and even soft tissue composition. Researchers found that the body fat and muscle protein content were comparable between the ad libitum and “prescribed feeding” piglets. The study, “Feeding style alters the growth and behavior of artificially-reared pigs,” is published in the Journal of Animal Science [DOI:10.1093/jas/skaf098].