Pre-weaning piglet mortality averages 10-15% in commercial systems, with crushing by sows accounting for the majority of deaths. Understanding causes guides welfare-positive interventions that reduce both suffering and production loss.
Pre-weaning piglet mortality represents both a production loss and a significant welfare concern. Crushing deaths involve compression injury that may cause conscious suffering before death. Starvation and hypothermia in low-birth-weight piglets causes prolonged suffering over hours. Interventions that reduce mortality also reduce suffering: nest-building material reduces sow agitation and improves maternal behavior coordination; heated creep areas allow piglets to move away from the sow during lying; good colostrum management within the first 6 hours ensures passive immunity. Farms with very low mortality achieve this through attentive management rather than farrowing crate confinement, demonstrating that the welfare tradeoff of crates is not inevitable.