Malmkvist, Jens
- Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Aarhus University
Abstract
Newborn piglets are prone to hypothermia, and higher mortalities are suggested in outdoor farrowing huts. Therefore, we investigated whether creep heating during the first 7 days after parturition improves piglet survival and welfare. Data (location, behaviour, weight, mortality) were collected from birth to weaning at 7 weeks from 88 litters across seasons. Each hut contained four pens, half with a heated (HEAT) piglet creep area and half of these had a metal bar ('pendulum') to support the sow's lying-down movement. The position of the sow at birth influenced the first piglet entry to the creep (rump facing creep: median 87 min vs snout facing creep: 191 min after the birth of the first piglet; P = 0.037). During the first day of life (D0), creep usage was low (2.6 +/- 0.65 % of observations) regardless of heating (P = 0.20) and season (P = 0.38; spring: 1.5 %, summer: 2.7 %, autumn: 1.8 %, winter: 3.1 %). Most piglets on D0 were at the udder (71.5 +/- 1.83 %) or in the pen, away from the sow (25.9 +/- 1.87 %). Creep usage increased after D0, with more piglets inside if heated (D2, HEAT: 28.0 +/- 3.16 % vs not: 6.8 +/- 1.85 %; P < 0.001), at the expense of being in the pen without sow contact (HEAT: 16.6 +/- 2.76 % vs unheated: 32.5 +/- 3.06 %; P < 0.001). HEAT did not influence piglets in udder contact (e.g. on D2, P = 0.21). We found no effect of HEAT on piglet survival (P = 0.54) and growth (P = 0.35) based on weighing individuals D1, D21, and D49. From D1 to weaning, 16.2 % of liveborn piglets died. The risk of piglet dying tended to higher in piglets being fostered by another sow (in contrast to their biological mother; P = 0.085) and higher for males (Hazard ratio vs females: 1.4; P = 0.004). Piglet Average Daily Gain (ADG) decreased with increasing litter size at weaning (P < 0.001) and was positively associated with the parity of the sow (P = 0.042). Season influenced the piglet ADG (P < 0.001), being higher during spring (g/day: 321 +/- 12(a)) and autumn (338 +/- 12 (a)) than summer (272 +/- 11(b); winter: 297 +/- 14(ab)). Piglets fostered by another sow had lower ADG (283 +/- 13 vs native piglets of the litter: 331 +/- 5 g/day; P < 0.001). In conclusion, heating resulted in more piglets using of the creep early in life on postnatal day 2, especially in cold weather (mean outdoor temperature effect; P = 0.030), indicating a need for more thermal zones inside the hut. These results suggest that additional hut features like heating may increase piglet welfare.
Keywords
Sus scrofa; Behaviour; Growth; Mortality; Thermoregulation; Welfare
Published in
Applied Animal Behaviour Science
2025, volume: 292, article number: 106794
Publisher: ELSEVIER
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Animal and Dairy Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106794
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/143780