Development and consequences of teat-order in piglets

Abstract

Observations were carried out on a total of 247 piglets from 34 litters in order to determine the mechanism and formation factors of teat-order, to evaluate its stability, and to determine their relationship with weight gains and dominance hierarchy.The regular observation of 8 litters from birth to 1 month made it possible to determine that formation of teat-order has a progressive trend; initially, the piglets direct themselves towards teats situated near the angles formed by the legs and the body of the mother, and show a clear tendency to move to the front.They first orientate towards a zone of 4 or 5 teats, within which a progressive predominance of 1 or 2 teats develops. For most of the animals, teat-order becomes stable after 7 days. The size of the litter does not seem to influence the development of teat-order or the preference for front or rear teats. Factors involved in this formation could be the sounds produced by the mother, smell and teat morphology, and recognition of the suckling neighbour's teats.Sex, weight at birth and birth order have no influence on teat-order.The animals suckling the 4 front teat pairs seem to gain a little more weight than the others, and a certain relationship seems to exist between position in teat-order and in dominance hierachy, but this is not very marked.