Hypothermia is a major cause of mortality in neonatal piglets. However, there are considerable individual differences in the successful recovery from postnatal hypothermia in the common farrowing environment, and so far the causes and interactions of causes have not been studied in detail. Using 635 crossbred neonatal piglets, the aim of this study was to identify the links among different physiological and behavioral measures and their connections to the ability of piglets to overcome initial postnatal hypothermia, with rectal temperature at 2 h as the response variable. The data included birth weight, hypoxia at birth (viability score and lactate in umbilical cord blood), latency to first udder contact and first suckle, scans of individual piglet position during the first 2 h after birth, and rectal temperature at birth and 2 h postpartum. A graphical chain model was used to analyze data. The statistical variables were divided into blocks according to level (design and litter) and chronological order (prenatal, birth, perinatal, and thermoregulatory success at 2 h) before applying the graphical model to the data. Bayesian information criteria (BIC) was used for model selection. The BIC relates to maximum likelihood, but introduces an additional penalty term for the number of variables. The strength of an association between 2 variables is reported as the increase in BIC (BICinc) due to removing the link. Results indicate that at 2 h, 22.1% of the piglets had a rectal temperature below 37°C. Out of the 16 variables included in the model, only 3 had direct links to the response variable of rectal temperature at 2 h. There was a positive relationship between rectal temperature at 2 h and birth weight (BICinc = 26), and between being observed more often by the udder as opposed to alone during both the first (BICinc = 8) and second hours (BICinc = 19) after birth. Lighter piglets and piglets that had experienced hypoxia took longer to achieve first suckle, which in turn affected where the piglet positioned itself during the first and second hours after birth. Variables related to the birth process had no direct connection to thermoregulatory success, but were additive in the explanation of piglet behavior. The rectal temperature of individual piglets at 2 h depends largely on piglet birth weight and on piglet position in relation to sow and littermates. Birth weight is the most important single factor in successful recovery from postnatal hypothermia. Copyright © 2011. American Society of Animal Science .

Our objective was to investigate the effects of floor heating duration (HEAT: 35°c for 12 or 48 h) after birth of first piglet (BFP) under different room temperatures (ROOM: 15°C, 20°C, 25°C) on sows during farrowing and lactation. The study included 8 to 11 repetitions for each combination of ROOM and HEAT. There were no treatment effects on indicators of birth problems (duration of parturition, interbirth intervals, umbilical cord lactate concentration), BW changes of the sow, and litter size and weight until weaning. Sows at 15°C compared with 20°C and 25°C spent more time nest building (P = 0.015). The feed intake was reduced the first 7 d after farrowing in sows at 25°C (P = 0.014); however, both daily feed intake (P = 0.018) and water consumption (P < 0.001) of these warm sows exceeded that at lower temperatures during the last part of the lactation. Sows at 15°C received more medical treatments until weaning at heat = 48 h only (ROOM and HEAT interaction, P = 0.005). Room temperature influenced prefarrowing water consumption (25°C > 20°C and 15°C; P < 0.017), sow surface temperature (15°C < 20°C < 25°C; P < 0.001), respiration rate (25°C > 20°C > 15°C; P < 0.001), and rectal temperature during the first 12 h after bfp (15°C < 25°C; P = 0.009); additionally, long floor heating duration (HEAT = 48 h) increased the respiration rate by 50% d 1 and 2 after bfp (p < 0.001). The proportion of lying time on the unheated slatted floor increased with room temperature (P < 0.001) and, transiently, also for the heat = 48 h treatment 13 to 48 h after BFP (P < 0.001). The majority of piglets (82% to 95%) were born on the heated solid floor, regardless of room temperature (P = 0.46). Sows spent approximately twice as much time standing and walking at 15°C during 13 to 48 h after BFP at HEAT = 12 h only (ROOM and HEAT interaction; P = 0.002). In conclusion, long-term indicators of reduced sow performance were unaffected by room temperature, probably because the farrowing and lactating sows in the current pen design were able to perform thermoregulatory behavior and successfully adapt to room temperatures between 15°C and 25°C. Copyright © 2012. American Society of Animal Science .