The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of colostrum intake on mortality and growth performance of piglets until 42 days of age, taking into account the birth weight, andparity order of sows. Colostrum intake from birth to 24 h after birth was estimated in 300piglets each from primiparous and multiparous sows. The piglets were cross-fostered in 25primiparous and 25 multiparous sows at 25.9 ± 0.09 h after farrowing. The concentration ofserum immunoglobulin G (IgG) was determined in the sows after the end of farrowing andin the piglets before cross-fostering (24 h after farrowing), at 10 and 20 days of age. For highbirth weight piglets (HBW – >1.3–1.7 kg) the probability of death was low regardless of theircolostrum intake. Intermediate birth weight (IBW – >1.2–1.3 kg) and low birth weight (LBW– 1.1–1.2 kg) piglets had the same probability of death compared to HBW piglets, whencolostrum intake reached 200 and 250 g, respectively. The probability of low performance(250 g increased(P < 0.05) the weight of piglets at 28 and 42 days of age, regardless of their birth weight.Piglets from primiparous biological dams consumed less colostrum (P < 0.003) than pigletsfrom multiparous dams, but their serum IgG concentrations at 24 h after birth and theirperformance were similar (P > 0.05). Piglets suckled by primiparous foster sows showedlower weight (P < 0.05) at 20, 28 and 42 days than piglets suckled by multiparous sows.Piglets that died before 42 days of age had lower (P < 0.05) birth weight, colostrum intakeand serum IgG at 24 h after birth compared to surviving piglets, and lower values were alsoobserved in piglets with low performance compared to high (>9.5 kg) performance piglets.There were no differences in serum IgG concentrations at 10 and 20 days of age (P > 0.05)between high and low performance piglets. In conclusion, both colostrum intake and birthweight are important for survival and growth of suckling piglets. LBW and IBW pigletsare more dependent on colostrum intake than HBW piglets to assure higher survival andbetter development up to 42 days of age. Piglets suckled by multiparous sows have betterdevelopment than those suckled by primiparous sows