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Parental Care

Parental Care

Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Noninvasive, In-pen Approach Test for Laboratory-housed Pigs

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Published on: June 5, 2019

Maternal behavior in pigs.

Bo Algers¹, Kerstin Uvnäs-Moberg

¹Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 234, 532 23 Skara, Sweden. Bo.Algers@hmh.slu.se

Hormones and Behavior

|May 8, 2007

Summary

Hormones significantly influence maternal behaviors in sows, from nest building before birth to milk let-down during lactation. Piglet nursing behavior communicates their nutritional needs, impacting sow hormones.

Area of Science:

Animal Behavior
Endocrinology
Reproductive Physiology

Background:

Commercial sow housing in crates since the 1960s spurred research into maternal behavior regulation.
A substantial body of evidence now supports hormonal control over sow maternal behaviors.

Purpose of the Study:

To review and synthesize current knowledge on the neuro-endocrine regulation of maternal behavior in domestic sows.
To highlight the hormonal factors influencing key maternal activities such as nest building, parturition, and lactation.

Main Methods:

Literature review and synthesis of existing research on sow maternal behavior and hormonal profiles.
Analysis of correlations between specific behaviors and changes in hormone levels (progesterone, prolactin, PGF2alpha, somatostatin, oxytocin).

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Main Results:

Nest building onset correlates with declining progesterone, rising prolactin, and increased PGF2alpha before parturition.
Specific behaviors like pawing and straw gathering are linked to progesterone, prolactin, and somatostatin levels.
Parturition duration is inversely related to peripheral oxytocin, while lactation involves piglet-stimulated hormonal responses for milk production and let-down.

Conclusions:

Sow maternal behavior is intricately regulated by a complex interplay of hormones.
Hormonal changes before, during, and after parturition are critical for successful reproduction and maternal care.
Piglet stimuli during lactation modulate sow physiology and behavior, ensuring offspring nutrition.