a little confused on ASF weaning

so i've been having a few minor issues with my ASF's. they are in 1.3 colonies in 10gallon mixing tubs from Home Hardware. room they're in is about 77, sometimes gets up to 80 if we leave the gas fireplace on all day.

but basically i had a bunch of the hoppers/weanlings die on me. they weren't fighting/attacked/cannibalized. they had pretty much just keeled over and died it seemed. there was only one litter, so i don't think they were overcrowded or anything. mind you it was quite a big litter, 16 or so.

someone suggested that perhaps the mothers weren't getting enough nutrition and stopped nursing. i am in the process of changing over their feed to the 16% hog feed, just waiting for my bag of it to come in. should be here by Friday.

i haven't had any issues with deaths recently, but i'm just wondering about weaning them. when i first got started i wasn't breeding as many, but now i don't want so many hoppers in with the parents so that the parents can concentrate on nursing the pinks.

i heard it mentioned that as soon as they open their eyes and are eating on their own you can wean them. what if you've seen them eating, but they are still nursing sometimes? is it still safe to wean them? are they nursing just for comfort or do they actually still need the milk, even though they are eating on their own?

and i've heard people mention a separate tub for female weanlings, and a separate tub for male weanlings. is this necessary, or is it just recommended if you're raising them up to replace your colonies?

i'm hoping now that i've gotten their food sorted out i can count on my production going up.

I on't take mine out until they absolutely have to come out. I don't see any reason to pull them out early.

ASF won't breed until they are 3-4 months old, so I usually pull at about 10-12 weeks, and plop everyone into another tank, and separate the males. I usually cull off the majority of my males, because they don't sell well.

I pull babies out as soon as their eyes are all the way open. If everything else is right (setup, food, water, ect) they will be fine.

I too place mine in another holding tank with others when they eat and drink on their own. Mostly because they are pregnant. 2 reasons, so the pinks arent fighting the weanies to nurse and just to give her a little break.

If you do mix in a holding tank, clean first then put everyone in there at the same time.

I separate mine right after they open their eyes providing they know how to operated the auto watering system and the food hopper. I do not separate the sexes until about 8 weeks.

You will at times get the dumb babies, that cant figure out the water systems and die.

I wean them once eyes are open and eat on their own