A newborn piglet is born wet, with almost no body fat and no real ability to hold its temperature, and its instinct is to press against the sow — the warmest, most dangerous place in the pen. Most crushing losses happen in the first days, when the sow is restless and piglets are slow. The answer is to make a piglet-only warm space so attractive that they choose it between nursings.
Build a Creep Piglets Actually Want
Set up a creep area alongside the sow's lying space, separated by a rail or partition piglets can pass under but the sow cannot enter. Warm it with a safely mounted heat lamp or a heat mat, on dry, deep bedding, protected from drafts at floor level. The creep should feel noticeably warmer than the rest of the pen — warm enough that piglets spread out in a loose group rather than piling in a shivering heap, which is your visual thermometer. If they avoid the creep entirely, it may be too hot or drafty at the edges; if they still sleep against the sow, the creep usually is not warm or welcoming enough yet.
Give the Sow Room to Lie Down Slowly
Farrowing rails fitted along the pen walls, or a well-designed farrowing crate, create a protected gap: as the sow lowers herself — sows drop heavily when tired — piglets can slip into that gap or under the rail instead of being pinned. Keep the floor dry and non-slip so the sow's feet do not slide as she lies, and avoid deep loose bedding in her lying area that can bury a tiny piglet out of sight. Watch her first lie-downs after farrowing if you can; a careful, responsive sow who reacts to squeals is worth noting in your records.
Be Present Most in the First Days
Risk concentrates early: attend the farrowing if possible, dry piglets, clear membranes, and make sure each one gets colostrum in its first hours, because a fed, warm piglet moves faster and squeals louder. Return chilled or pushed-aside piglets to a teat after warming them in the creep — a cold piglet cannot compete. Check the litter frequently through the first days and nights, listening as much as looking: a trapped piglet's scream should bring you running, and quick response genuinely saves piglets.
Manage the Litter as Individuals
Note piglets that are smaller, slower to a teat, or repeatedly found away from the group. Within a large litter, moving a strong piglet after it has had colostrum so a smaller one can nurse, or fostering thoughtfully between sows that farrowed close together, can even out chances — done carefully and recorded so you know which piglet belongs where. Keep navels clean and dry, watch for scouring, and keep the pen's hygiene tight, since a chilled, hungry piglet is also the first to pick up infection.
Adjust Warmth as They Grow
Piglets need less added heat as days pass and they grow a fat layer; watch behavior rather than a calendar — gradual spreading out and choosing spots farther from the heat source signals you can raise the lamp or reduce the mat's area in small steps. Sudden piling again after a change means you moved too fast or a draft has appeared.
Early farrowing care is a rota, not a solo effort, and KinsLe's Care Teams can assign the frequent creep checks, teat checks and bedding rounds for this litter as timestamped duties, so the night watch is covered as reliably as the morning one.