Parsing the characteristics of a simulated udder to determine relative attractiveness to piglets in the 72 h following parturition

Crushing of piglets by their sows in modern production systems is a tremendous financial loss to the swine industry and a topic of much research. Our lab had previously designed a simulated udder (SU) which successfully used several attractive stimuli that, when placed in the farrowing crate, served to draw the piglet away from the sow to a safe area. The current study sought to parse out the relative contributions of the various stimuli to the simulated udder as a whole during the first 72 h postpartum. Three experiments, each comparing a variation of the simulated udder and/or a heat lamp only were conducted and the ratio of piglets from each litter using a modified simulated udder to all live piglets in the litter was determined. A cotton cloth without sow odor versus heat lamp resulted in ratios of .85 +/- .01 versus .67 +/- .01 (P < .005), respectively, across all time points. A cotton cloth with odor versus cloth with no odor resulted in ratios of .63 +/- .02 versus .82 +/- .01 (P < .005), respectively, during the 12-24 h post-farrowing, but not during the remaining 48 It post-farrowing. Treatment effects were not found at other time points or in other comparisons (P > .20). Our results confirmed that some characteristics of the simulated udder are more effective at attracting piglets than a heat lamp, though the role of some individual components remains unclear. Similar to results from the original simulated udder, no treatment was effective at reducing the number of crushed piglets. Published by Elsevier B.V.