Sow responsiveness towards piglet screams were studied. A sow?s responsiveness to screams of her piglets was investigated along the first 24 h after birth, the period of highest mortality. Our results indicate that sows maintained their responsiveness towards piglet screams during trapping and during fighting for teats within the first 24 h. Playbacks and real screams were similarly effective in evoking a response. The importance of the sound characteristics of piglet screams related to the sows? response were discussed in this paper.