Confinement of lactating sows in crates for 4 days after farrowing reduces piglet mortality

Confinement of lactating sows in crates for 4 days after farrowing reduces piglet mortality.

To reduce mortality among suckling piglets, lactating sows are traditionally housed in farrowing crates. Alternatively, lactating sows can be housed in farrowing pens where the sow is loose to ensure more behavioural freedom and consequently a better welfare for the sow, although under commercial conditions, farrowing pens have been associated with increased piglet mortality. Most suckling pigl...

Temporary confinement of loose-housed hyperprolific sows reduces piglet mortality.

The objective of this study was to investigate piglet mortality in a commercial setting where sows were accommodated in a loose-housed system with an option to confine the sow for a few days around farrowing and during early lactation. The study was conducted in a Danish piggery where records were obtained from 2,139 farrowings. Sows were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 treatments: loose-loose (LL...

Temporary confinement of loose - housed hyperprolific sows reduces piglet mortality 1

The objective of this study was to investigate piglet mortality in a commercial setting where sows were accommodated in a loose-housed system with an option to confine the sow for a few days around farrowing and during early lactation. The study was conducted in a Danish piggery where records were obtained from 2,139 farrowings. Sows were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 treatments: loose–loose (LL...

Housing of farrowing and lactating sows in non-crate systems

Consequences for Piglet Performance of Group Housing Lactating Sows at One, Two, or Three Weeks Post-Farrowing

Housing lactating sows with piglets in a multi-suckling pen from around 14 days post-farrowing is common practice in Swedish organic piglet production. However, nursing-suckling interaction is less frequent in multi-suckling pens than in individual farrowing pens, thus affecting piglet performance, e.g., piglet growth. Moreover, piglet mortality is higher in systems using multi-suckling pens. T...