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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 13, 2025

Providing Meaningful Environmental Enrichment and Measuring Saliva Cortisol in Pigs Housed on Slatted Flooring

Providing Meaningful Environmental Enrichment and Measuring Saliva Cortisol in Pigs Housed on Slatted Flooring

Published on: September 30, 2019

Piglets' behaviour and performance in relation to sow characteristics.

Emma M Baxter¹, Sarah A Hall¹, Marianne Farish¹

¹Animal and Veterinary Sciences, SRUC, Peter Wilson Building King's Buildings, W Mains Rd, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK.

Animal : an International Journal of Animal Bioscience

|January 19, 2023

Summary

Maternal care significantly impacts piglet development. Lower sow cortisol levels correlate with faster litter growth and better piglet behavior, highlighting the importance of sow well-being for offspring outcomes in commercial pig production.

Keywords:

Coping ability Maternal behaviour Physiology Pig Suckling behaviour

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Last Updated: Aug 13, 2025

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Published on: September 30, 2019

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Published on: June 5, 2019

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Published on: August 21, 2021

Area of Science:

Animal Science
Reproductive Biology
Behavioral Ecology

Background:

Maternal care is crucial for offspring development in livestock.
Commercial pig production often limits sow-piglet interaction, impacting piglet outcomes.
Understanding maternal provisioning is key to improving piglet health and performance.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how maternal physiological and behavioral factors influence piglet immunity, growth, and behavior.
To test the hypothesis that better maternal care and nutrition positively correlate with offspring outcomes.
To explore the relationship between sow characteristics and piglet performance in a free-farrowing system.

Main Methods:

Studied 19 sows and litters in free-farrowing pens, measuring sow hormones (oxytocin, cortisol) and milk composition.
Assessed sow behaviors including dominance, handling response, and maternal defensiveness.
Evaluated piglet growth (weight, BMI), immunity (Immunoglobulin G), and post-weaning behavior (human approach, novel object tests).

Main Results:

Litters grew faster with sows exhibiting lower cortisol levels, which also correlated with more successful suckling and contact.
Lower piglet body mass index at weaning was associated with higher milk fat percentage in sows.
Sow dominance rank and cortisol levels influenced piglet behavior in human interaction tests, though significance varied with statistical models.

Conclusions:

Sow physiological state (cortisol) and nutritional provisioning (milk fat) significantly influence litter growth and behavior.
While some maternal factors impact offspring, litter size and parity are also critical.
Optimizing sow maternal investment is essential for improving piglet outcomes, especially with increasing litter sizes and evolving housing systems.