Colostrum intake by newborn piglets

Colostrum intake by newborn piglets was studied by weighing piglets every 10 min for their first 1–4 h with the sow, and their cumulative weight increases were used as estimates of colostrum intake. In seven litters, four piglets were monitored for 4 h beginning about 2 h after the birth of the first piglet in order to determine if colostrum is available continuously or released in discrete ejections. There was little synchrony between litter-mates in their intake in the first hour, but by the second hour of monitoring (starting about 3 h after farrowing began), much of the colostrum was released in discrete ejections and piglets achieved most of their intake during the few 10-min intervals when an ejection occurred. To examine the effect of birth sequence, four piglets were added to the udder each hour for 3 consecutive hours. Piglets added in the last hour showed a small but significant tendency (P < 0.05) to obtain less colostrum than those added in the middle of the sequence. In nine litters, three pi...