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COMMERCIALLY bred pigs often savage their young, which proves costly for pig
breeders and is distressing both for them and their animals. A recent study has
shown that sows behave this way because they can鈥檛 satisfy their natural
nest-building urges and it has identified patterns of behaviour that may help
breeders deal with the problem.

One in eight piglets born alive is fatally mauled by its mother. Half of the
deaths occur in just 17 per cent of litters鈥攕o some sows are more inclined
to commit infanticide than others. Steven Appleyard and Alistair Lawrence of the
Scottish Agricultural College in Edinburgh videotaped 96 gilts, or first-time
mothers, confined to standard farrowing or birth crates for 24 hours prior to
birth. They described what they saw to the Association for the Study of Animal
Behaviour in Sheffield last month.

In the wild, sows spend time and effort building elaborate nests of twigs and
branches in preparation for their offspring. But their nesting activities were
severely curtailed within the confines of a crate. And the pigs that went on to
savage their offspring left it far later to start nest-building activities such
as snuffling at the floor and bars and pushing straw around. They were still
active four hours before the birth, while more peaceful sows were lying quietly
on their sides.

鈥淭hese gilts seem to be shifting their nest-building activities closer to
parturition, or parturition comes too soon for them,鈥� says Appleyard. Unprepared
for the birth, both physiologically and behaviourally, he suggests, they vent
their frustration on their offspring. With close monitoring, it may be possible
to identify high-risk sows and remove the piglets before they attack.