Farrowing systems are based upon the assumption that the newborn piglets will
leave their mother after suckling and enter a creep area, but they are motivated to remain close to the sow. Several creep areas were used to attempt to increase time spent in the creep area after birth and to find out whether increased time spent in the creep area affects piglet mortality. Forty-six loose-housed sows and their litters were subjected to one of three treatments; (1) control (CON); concrete floor in the creep area, (2) bedding (BED); insulated and soft bedding in the creep area and (3) HUT; an insulated and soft bedding plus a wall to increase the heat conserving capacity in the creep area. The pens were video-recorded from 0–72 h after birth. The attempts to make the creep area attractive did not increase the use of the creep area; piglets in the HUT treatment spent less time in the creep area and more time resting near the sow than piglets in the CON and BED treatment.