NOTES

CAUSES OF PIGLET DEATH FROM BIRTH TO WEANING

causes of piglet death were determined for 569 piglets that died between birth and
weaning out ofa total of2388 born over the second to fourth parity in 124 yorkshire
and 109 Yorkshire x Lacombe sow litters. Eight specific causes ofdeath were identi-
fied. starvation, crushing by the sow and stillbirths were the three main causes. uniden-
tified causes and piglets euthanized largely because of sow death or injury were of
Can. J. Anim. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 157.36.156.13 on 06/19/19

secondary importance. Exposure, congenital abnormalities and disease were of minor

importance. In addition, the primary underlying cause of death appears to be a lack
of adequate nutrition for the piglets as only 6.3% of the piglets dying during the first
3 d had an increase in body weight and only 15.4% of the piglets dying after day 3
had body weight increases that could be considered as adequate for their age.

Key words: Piglets, death, birth, lactation

lCauses de la mortalit6 des porcelets de la naissance au sevrage.]

Titre abr6g6: Causes de la mortalit6 des porcelets de la naissance au sevrage.
Les causes de la mortalit6 ont 6t6 d6termin6es pour 569 porcelets morts entre la nais-
sance et le sevrage sur un total de 2388 n6s de la deuxidme ir la quatridme mise bas
dans 124 port6es de truies Yorkshire et 109 de truies Yorkshire X Lacombe. Huit cau-
ses particulibres de mortalit6 ont 6t6 identifi6es. La privation de nourriture, l'6crase-
ment par la truie et la mortinatalit6 sont les trois principales causes. Les causes non
For personal use only.

identifi6es et les porcelets euthanasi6s principalement a cause de la mort ou de l6sions

de la truie revdtent une importance secondaire. L'exposition aux 616ments, les malfor-
mations cong6nitales et la maladie sont d'une importance ndgligeable. En outre, Ia pre-
mibre cause sous-jacente de mortalit6 semble 6tre un manque de nutrition ad6quate
des porcelets, car seulement 6,37o des porcelets mourant au cours des trois premiers
jours affichaient un accroissement du poids corporel et seulement 15,4vo mourant au
bout du troisidme jour montraient des augmentations de poids corporel qu'on pourrait
qualifier de suffrsantes pour leur dge.

Mots cl6s: Porcelets, mortalit6, naissance, lactation

Piglet death during parturition and lactation
is one of the more easily identified causes of
reduced production efficiency in swine herds.
Two recent reviews (English and Wilkinson
1982; English and Morrison 1984) have
effectively described the timing and causes of
piglet death. Among live-born piglets, over
50% ofthe deaths occur during the first 3 d
after birth, with starvation and crushing by
the sow accounting for 70-80% of the deaths.
Additional causes of death include conseni-
tal abnormalities (5%), disease (6%), ihote
Can. J. Anim. Sci. 672 543-547 (June 198n
543
litter loss and unidentified causes. In addition
to the loss of live-born piglets, 4-8% of all
piglets die prior to or at the time of parturi-
tion (English and Morrison 1984). These
deaths (stillbirths) occur either late in gesta-
tion (antipartum) or during parturition
(intrapartum) (Bille et al. 1974).
Along with the primary cause of death there
are several secondary factors that contribute
to the death of piglets. Pomeroy (1960) and
Bille et al. (1974) observed that mortalify of
piglets decreased as birth weight increased.
However, among litters more deaths occurred
when there was greater variation in birth
 544 CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE

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 DYCK AND SWIERSTRA
-
weight within the litter (English and Smith
1975). Other conditions contributing to piglet
death include weakness at birth, restless or
clumsy sows and agalactia (English and Smith
1975). While causes of death are adequately
identihed, there appears to be no information
available on the weight change from birth to
death.
Can. J. Anim. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 157.36.156.13 on 06/19/19
The present paper provides information on
the weight change from birth to death and fur-
ther information on the effect of birth weight
and litter size on survival to weaning.
The piglets in this study comprise 569
piglets that died prior to weaning and 1819
piglets weaned from an experiment to evalu-
ate the effect of gestation housing environ-
ment on sow reproductive performance over
the second to fourth parity (Dyck et al. 1985).
There were 124 litters from Yorkshire (Y)
and 109 litters from Y xLacombe (YL) sows.
All sows were bred to Y boars. Details of
the management of the sows and the effects
For personal use only.
of housing and parity on the distribution of
death losses has been reported (Dyck et al.
1985). The sows were placed in 0.6 x 2.3-m
farrowing crates, with 0.9 x 2.3-m and 0.6
x 2.3-m creep areas on either side, on day
110 of gestation and maintained in the crates
for 35 d after farrowing when they were
weaned of their litters. Water was constantly
available to the sow and piglets from a pres-
surized watering bowl at the front of the far-
rowing crate. Piglets were identified by ear
notching and weighed within 24 h of birth.
When piglets died, the age, weight and cause
of death were recorded. Eight primary causes
of death were identified
- stillbirth, crushed
by the sow, starvation, euthanasia, exposure,
congenital abnormalities, disease and uniden-
tified causes. Stillbirth deaths were subdivided
into antipartum (death late in gestation with
obvious tissue degeneration) and intrapartum
(death during parturition as determined by the
failure of the lungs to float in water).
Statistical analyses utilized the"t" test of
independent samples to determine the sig-
nificance of differences among means, chi
square to determine the significance of differ-
ences in enumeration data and resression
CAUSES OF PIGLET DEATH 545
analysis to determine the relationship between
litter size and the percent death loss.
The cause ofdeath, age at death and weight
at birth and death were determined for the 569
piglets that died prior to weaning (Table l).
The three leading causes of death were still-
births (22.3%), crushing by the sow (23.9%)
and starvation (26.9%). Euthanasia (11.4%)
and other unidentifred causes of death
(lI .4%) were of secondary importance while
exposure (piglets found dead away from the
sow or heated creep area) (2.3%), congenital
abnormalities (0.9%) and disease (0.9%)
were of minor importance.
Stillbirth deaths comprised 5.3% of the
piglets born. Antipartum deaths were equally
distributed over the entire range of litter sizes
(3-18) while intrapartum deaths were lower
for litters of 14 or fewer piglets than for lit-
ters of 15 or more piglets (3.3 vs. ll .I%,
P<0.01). The higher incidence of intrapar-
tum stillbirths observed in the larger litters is
in agreement with previous reports (Randall
and Penny 1970; Bille et al. 1974). English
and Morrison (1984) in their review attrib-
ute the intrapartum stillbirths to asphyxiation
during parturition as a result of reduced
placental blood flow and premature rupture
of the umbilical cord. In the present study,
the mean weight of the intrapartum stillbirths
was less than that of piglets born alive
(1.07+0.04 vs. 1.31+0.01, P<0.01), sug-
gesting that the smaller body size may also
contribute to the effect of a reduced oxygen
supply on the piglet.
For the piglets that died after parturition the
majority (61.5%) of deaths occurred over the
f,rrst 4 d (Table 1). The pattern of death losses
over time for all causes of death except for
starvation and euthanasia is in agreement with
other reports as reviewed by English and
Morrison (1984). Deaths due to starvation
were greatest on days 4 and 5 and remained
relatively high through the second week of
lactation. suggesting that starvation is more
of a gradual process. Deaths due to starva-
tion occurred in 66 litters with 22 of the lit-
ters having three or more deaths (l0l piglet
deaths). In these 22 litters agalactia was the
 546 CANADIAN JoURNAL oF ANIMAL SCIENCE

Table 2. Mean litter size, birth weight and the standard error of litter birth weight of litters from Yorkshire and
Yorkshire x Lacombe sows in relation to the number of deaths per littert

No. of deaths No. of No. born Birth wt Litter SE of

Breed of dam ner litter lirers alive (ke) birth wt
Yorkshire 1Y) 0 39 '7.26+0.38a] 1.31 a0.03a 0.066+0.004
1 33 8.88+0.31b t.t9+0.o2b 0.067 t0.004
2 2l 10.52+0.29c l. 1 I J0.03c 0.065 +0.006
>3 r7 10.59+0.45c 1.05 +0.03c 0.066+0.004
Can. J. Anim. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 157.36.156.13 on 06/19/19

Yx Lacombe 0 JI 9.13+O.48a 1.59 a0.03a 0.077 +0.006

I 32 10.06+0.44a l.49t0.O3ab 0.073 +0.006
2 l4 I 1 .57 +0.48b 1.381-0.04bc 0.072 +0.005
>3 16 12.r9+0.42b 1.35 +0.05c 0.071+0.006
flitters where deaths were as a result of agalactia, sow injury or sow death were excluded from the analyses
fMean * standard error.
a-cValues within breed of dam with different letters are significantly different (P<0.05).

primary cause of starvation. Among the 65
euthanized piglets, 40 were euthanized be-
cause ofsow injury, 13 because ofsow death
and 72 because of their low growth rate. No
instances of kronism (savaging) were
For personal use only.
death losses were not attributed to sow
problems (MMA, sow death or injury) the in-
cidence of death losses varied with litter size
conforming to a quadratic regression
(f:0.093 -0.01 lx * O.O0l4x2, r :0.288,

observed. P<0.01). There was a minima at four piglets

As shown in Table 1, the majority of the
piglets either lost weight or had a low growth
rate from birth to death. Among the 208 pig-
lets that died during the first 3 d, 13 (6.3%)
had an increase in body weight. Similarly, for
the piglets that died after day 3,36 of 234
(15.4%) of the piglets had a growth rate that
approached that of the piglets weaned. In this
group of 36 piglets, 10 were euthanized be-
cause of sow death, 11 crushed by the sow
and 15 died ofunidentified causes. The low
growth rate of the majority of the piglets sug-
gests that they were not obtaining an adequate
milk supply. This is in agreement with the ob-
servation of English and Smith (1975) who
suggested that the smaller piglets in the lit-
ters are not able to effectively compete for the
available milk supply, weaken and are
crushed by the sow or die ofother causes. In
the present study 7 I % of the death losses oc-
curred among the piglets below the mean birth
weight. The mean birth weight of the piglets
born alive and those dying during lactation
were 1.16*0.26 (SD) vs. 0.96+0.27 kg
(P<0.01), and 1.43+0.31vs. 1.24+0.37 kg
(P<0.01) for the Y x Y and Y x YL lit-
ters, respectively. Among those litters where
per litter (7.1%), less than 10% death loss
from two to eight piglets per litter and2l .3%
death loss with 14 piglets per litter. This in-
crease in death losses with increasing litter
size is in agreement with the observations of
Fahmy and Bernard (1971) and Bille et al.
(r9'74).
The roles of litter size and birth weight as
factors influencing the incidence of piglet
death is further illustrated in Table 2. As the
number of deaths per litter increased from 0
to 2 there was an increase in litter size and
a decrease in birth weight for the Y x Y and
Y x YL litters. Although there were breed
in birth weight and litter size
differences
(Y x Y vs. Y x YL-1.1'7 vs. 1.46 kg,
P<0.01, 9.02 vs. 10.55, P<0.01, respec-
tively (Dyck et al. 1985)) the incidence of
death losses were similar (Y x Y-20.6%,
Y x YL- 18.5%, P>O.IO). This is in agree-
ment with the observation of English and
Smith (1975) that birth weight of a litter is
not of major importance in determining sub-
sequent survival. They also suggested that
variation in birth weight in the litter is an im-
portant parameter influencing subsequent sur-
vival. However, in the present study, litter
 DYCK AND SWIERSTRA
-
variation in birth weight within the YxY and
Y xYL litters as determined by calculating the
standard error for each litter was similar
regardless of the number of deaths in the lit-
ter (Table 2). If litter mean birth weight is not
important, as suggested by English and Smith
(1975), then it should follow that litter size
is the more important parameter influencing
Can. J. Anim. Sci. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 157.36.156.13 on 06/19/19
piglet survival during lactation. This assump-
tion is in agreement with the observation of
English and Smith (1975) that as litter size in-
creases there is increased competition for the
available milk supply resulting in more deaths
among the smaller piglets in the litter.
While the time and causes of death are well
documented, the present results demonstrate
that the failure ofpiglets to obtain an adequate
milk supply within a few days of birth either
as a result of agalactia or competition with
larger and stronger piglets in the litter is the
primary factor conffibuting to piglet death and
may account for in excess of 85% of the loss-
For personal use only.
es. These death losses can be minimized by
cross-fostering of piglets, shortly after par-
turition, to equalize litter size and reduce
variation in piglet weight within the cross-
fostered litter, or by artificial rearing of ill-
thriving piglets and piglets from litters where
the sow dies. English et al. (1977) have
demonstrated that cross-fostering, artificial
rearing and other management procedures
will increase piglet survival to 95% of the
piglets born alive.
Bille, N. Nielsen, N. C., Larsen, J. L. and
CAUSES OF PIGLET DEATH 547
Svendsen, J.1974. Preweaning mortality in pigs.
2. The perinatal period. Nord. Veterinaermed. 26:
294-313.
Dyck, G. W., Swierstra, E. E. and Strft, J. H.
1985. Effect ofgestation housing on reproductive
performance of Yorkshire and Yorkshire x
Lacombe sows. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 65: 221-229.
English, P. R. and Smith, W. J. 1975. Some
causes ofdeath in neonatal piglets. Vet. Ann. 15:
95-104.
English, P. R., Smith, W. J. and Maclean, A.
1977.The sow Improving her efficiency. Farm-
-
ing Press Ltd., Ipswich, Suffolk, U.K.
English, P. R. and Wilkinson, Y. f982. Manage-
ment of the sow and litter in late pregnancy and
lactation in relation to piglet survival and growth.
Pages 479-506 in D. J . A. Cole and G. R. Fox-
croft eds. Control of pig reproduction. Butter-
worth. London. U.K.
English, P. R. and Morrison, V. 1984. Causes
and prevention of piglet mortality Review
-
article. Pig News and Information 5: 369-376.
Fahmy, M. H. and Bernard, C. 1971. Causes
of mortality in Yorkshire pigs from birth to 20
weeks of age. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 51: 351-359.
Pomeroy, R. W. 1960. Infertility and neonatal
mortality in the sow. III. Neonatal mortality and
foetal development. J. Agric. Sci. (Camb.) 54:
3 l-56.
Randall, G. C. B. and Penny, R. H. C. 1970.
Stillbirth in the pig. An analysis of the breeding
records of five herds. Br. Vet. I. 126l. 593-603.
G. W. DYCK and E. E. SWIERSTRA
Research Station, Agriculture Canada,
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada R7A 527.
Received 2l May 1986, accepted 9 Dec.
1986.