Acidification is one of the easiest tools to misuse in piglet nutrition. When a diet underperforms, many people reach for more acid as if low pH alone will rescue the formula. Sometimes it helps, but often it only hides the real problem for a few days.
A piglet diet usually needs more acidification when weaning is early, feed intake is hesitant, and the formula leans on ingredients that challenge digestion. Under those conditions, a lower stomach pH can improve protein digestion and help keep the upper gut from turning into a fermentation vat. I have seen this clearly in young pigs moved at 18 to 21 days onto dense, expensive starters. A sensible acidification program made the diet behave more predictably and reduced the number of pigs that went off feed after the first stress hit.
