Large litters have a detrimental impact on litter performance and postpartum maternal behaviour in primiparous sows

Table 4 Definition and description of nursing and carefulness behaviours of sows

Variables	Definition
Nursing behaviour¹
Start of nursing	Over 50% of the piglets in a litter were vigorously massaging the udder
End of nursing	Over 50% of the piglets had either moved away from the udder or were in a state of inactivity close to the udder
Successful nursing	Piglets exhibited sucking behaviour that lasted for over 15 s following vigorous udder massaging
Unsuccessful nursing	Piglets did not show sucking behaviour
Sow-terminated nursing	When the sows were standing up or turning around to prevent further udder massage by the piglets
Carefulness behaviour²
Sniffing	Sow uses her snout to touch the piglets before settling down
Rooting or Pawing	Sow uses her nose or front paws to dig into the floor before lying down
Turning the head towards piglets	Sow watches the position of the piglets while sitting, kneeling, or lying down
Progressing carefully	Careful, gentle, cautious, and slow movements while sitting, kneeling, or lying down
No piglets in the danger zone	There are no piglets positioned where the sows sit, kneel, or lie down

¹The definition of nursing behaviour was adapted from Valros et al. [50] and Yun et al. [51]
²The definition of carefulness behaviour was adapted from Yun et al. [51]

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