Please cite this article in press as: Westin, R., et al., Post-mortem findings and piglet mortality in relation to strategic use of straw at farrowing. PREVET (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2015.02.023 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model PREVET-3761; No. of Pages 12 Preventive Veterinary Medicine xxx (2015) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Preventive Veterinary Medicine j ourna l h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/prevetmed Post-mortem findings and piglet mortality in relation to strategic use of straw at farrowing Rebecka Westin a,b,∗ , Nils Holmgren b , Jan Hultgren a , Kerstin Ortman c , Anders Linder c , Bo Algers a a Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 234, SE-532 23 Skara, Sweden b Swedish Animal Health Service, SE-532 89 Skara, Sweden c Eurofins Food & Agro Testing Sweden AB, P.O. Box 399, SE-532 24 Skara, Sweden a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 11 September 2014 Received in revised form 9 February 2015 Accepted 21 February 2015 Keywords: Piglet survival Stillborn Starvation Crushing Hypothermia New neonatal porcine diarrhoea a b s t r a c t Piglet survival is the outcome of complex interactions between the sow, the piglet and their environment. In order to facilitate nest-building and to provide a suitable environ- ment for the newborn piglets, a strategic method to supply loose housed sows with large quantities of straw at farrowing has been developed by Swedish piglet-producing farmers. The objectives of this cohort study were to use post-mortem findings to assess the causes of death and to quantify the effect of a large quantity of straw provided before farrowing compared to limited small daily amounts on stillbirths, post-mortem findings in piglets dying within 5 days after birth and the pre-weaning mortality. On each of four commercial piglet-producing farms in South-West Sweden, one batch of sows was studied during two consecutive lactations. At inclusion, sows were randomly assigned to two treatment groups, and sows remaining in the batch during the next lactation switched treatment group. In the STRAW group (n = 181 litters) sows were provided with 15–20 kg of chopped straw 2 days prior to the calculated date of farrowing. Sows in the CONTROL group (n = 182 litters) received 0.5–1 kg of chopped straw on a daily basis plus about 2 kg for nest-building when the stockperson judged the sow to be about to farrow. After onset of farrowing, additionally 1–2 kg was given. Post-mortem examination was performed in all piglets that died within 5 days after birth (n = 798). The three major post-mortem findings were starvation (34%) crushing by the sow (28%), and enteritis (24%). In conclusion, strategic use of large quan- tities of straw reduced the number of stillborn piglets per litter by 27% (p = 0.007). Under the conditions studied, the pre-weaning mortality of liveborn piglets was not affected by treatment; however, the distribution of post-mortem findings differed with fewer piglets dying due to starvation and more due to crushing and enteritis in STRAW litters. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Piglet survival is the outcome of complex interac- tions between the sow, the piglet and the environment ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 234, SE-532 23 Skara, Sweden. Tel.: +46 51167218; Mobile phone: +46 5111067204. E-mail address: rebecka.westin@slu.se (R. Westin). (Edwards, 2002), and high pre-weaning mortality is a well- known phenomenon within piglet production. Starvation and crushing, both closely linked to perinatal asphyxia and hypothermia, are the most common ultimate causes of death in liveborn piglets (reviewed by: Alonso-Spilsbury et al., 2007; Edwards, 2002; Herpin et al., 2002). Through the decades, different approaches have been tried in order to reduce piglet mortality. Commercial strategies have often focused on modifying the farrowing http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2015.02.023 0167-5877/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.