The incidences of piglets born dead or with low viability remains unacceptably high in the pig industry, and is likely to increase with continuing selection for high total litter size (Kerr and Cameron 1995; Rootwclt et al. 2012). Caffeine promoted breathing respiration in premature human babies (Benowitz 1990) and administration of caffeine to sows 24 h prior to an induced parturition improved aspects of neonatal piglet performance (Superchi et al. 2013). The current study hypothesised whether 3 days of oral caffeine ingestion by sows prior to a natural parturition would reduce the number of still births and improve piglet behaviour immediately post-partum.
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