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’t 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—so some sows are more inclined
to commit infanticide than others. Steven Appleyard and Alistair Lawrence of the
Scottish Agricultural College…
