Sow udder morphology and colostrum IgG concentration on piglet growth at 24 hours after birth

The role of udder morphology in colostrum production and piglet survival is not well understood. The objective of this cross-sectional study is to investigate the effect of sow udder morphology on colostrum yield and IgG concentration, along with their effect on piglet weight gain and survival rate at 24 hours postpartum. This study was conducted on commercial swine herds in western Thailand. The total of 101 sows from different parities and 1,667 piglets from these sows were included in the study. Sow and piglet performances including parity, total born (TB), born alive (BA), colostrum intake (CI), colostrum yield (CY), piglet birth weight (BW), piglet weight at day 1 of age (W1D) and preweaning mortality rate (PWM) were determined. Additionally, sow udder morphology traits including the number of total and functional teats, teat base distance on opposite rows (OPPR), distance between teat base and abdominal midline (DEPT) and teat length (LEN) were recorded. Colostrum samples were collected within 30 minutes of the onset of farrowing and analyzed for IgG concentration using Brix refractometer. On average, sows had 14.1 ± 1.4 functional teats and produced 5.8 ± 1.4 kg colostrum. For the udder morphology, the OPPR, DEPT, and LEN were 18.2 ± 2.0, 11.6 ± 1.5, and 2.0 ± 0.5 cm, respectively. Colostrum yield correlated positively with piglet weight gain (r = 0.310, P < 0.001) and LEN (r = 0.217, P < 0.05), but negatively with PWM (r = -0.350, P < 0.001). Good-udder sows tended to have higher CY than Poor-udder sows (P = 0.093) and exhibited greater LEN and DEPT (P < 0.001; for both). The number of BA, BW, and Brix index did not differ among groups. On the contrary, Good-udder sows had fewer total number of teats (P = 0.008) and fewer functional teats (P = 0.010) than Poor-udder sows. In conclusion, sow udder morphology and IgG concentration in colostrum affects piglet growth at 24 hours postpartum.