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1.
The effects of a box in the pen on the agonistic behavior of pigs after regrouping was determined in 24 pigs from five litters that were kept in three pens after weaning. For the experiment, the pigs were allocated to six pens with four animals each and kept with their peers for 2 weeks. The lightest pig from each pen was removed and isolated for 2 weeks, and then regrouped with its original peers. At the time of regrouping, half of the pens were equipped with the box. The number and duration of agonistic behavior events were particularly large and long in the pen without a box on the first day after regrouping, and for the isolated pig on the first day (all P  < 0.05). The number of times the box was accessed was large for the isolated pig on the first day after regrouping ( P  < 0.01). The number of agonistic behavior events and the times the box was accessed was correlated on the first day after regrouping ( r s = 0.79, P  < 0.01). The number of agonistic behavior events on the first day after regrouping was greater in the pens without a box than in the pens with a box ( P  < 0.01). It was suggested that the box had the effect of reducing agonistic behavior after regrouping.  相似文献   

2.
The effects on agonistic interactions of installing a tire in a pen with 24 weanling pigs allocated to six pens, with four animals in each, were determined. At the first grouping, two pigs were transferred from each pen to another pen where non‐littermates existed. Then half of the pens were equipped with a tire (Grouping 1). After one week, the pigs transferred at Grouping 1 were again transferred to other pens were non‐littermates existed (Grouping 2). At Grouping 2, any pen was not newly equipped with a tire and no pig was exposed to a tire for the first time. After another week, the pigs transferred at the previous groupings were once more transferred to other pens where non‐littermates existed (Grouping 3). At Grouping 3, the pigs in the pens with a tire were transferred to pens without a tire, and the pigs in the pens without a tire were transferred to pens with a tire. Then all pens were equipped with a tire. In Grouping 1, the effects on agonistic interactions of installing a tire were not significant. However, the injury score (less the score, less the number and damage of injury) was higher in the pens without a tire than in the pens with a tire (P < 0.05). In Grouping 2, pigs in the pens with a tire were attacked more than pigs in the pens without a tire (P < 0.05). The number of agonistic behaviors positively correlated with access to the tire (rs = 0.31; P < 0.01). In Grouping 3, the number of attacks received by pigs with no experience in using a tire was larger on the first day after grouping than on the 4th day (P < 0.05). The injury score was higher for pigs being transferred than for pigs not being transferred (P < 0.05). In conclusion: (i) installing a tire in a pen did not reduce the agonistic interactions of pigs, but it could change the style of their attacks, and (ii) initially having pigs experienced in using a tire can be useful for reducing the damage caused by agonistic interactions.  相似文献   

3.
SUMMARY Two experiments were carried out in a 55-sow, specific pathogen free commercial unit, to assess the effects of the tranquilising drug, azaperone, on pigs mixed at weaning. The drug is claimed to inhibit aggression in pigs mixed at weaning, and also to increase the average weight gain in groups of growing pigs. The first experiment used a single test and control group, and the second experiment was a 2 times 2 factorial design, the variables being the presence or absence of the drug, and the presence or absence of a box used to modify the weaner pen environment. In both experiments there were no significant differences in rates of agonistic interactions between treated and untreated groups, although the drug delayed the first agonistic encounters for about 8 hours. Nor was there any difference in the relative growth rate between treated and untreated groups in either experiment.  相似文献   

4.
Six hundred forty growing-finishing pigs (initial BW = 23.2 +/- 4.8 kg) were used in a 12-wk study (final BW = 95.5 +/- 10.2 kg) to quantify the effects of group size (10, 20, 40, and 80 pigs/pen) on performance, tail biting, and use of widely distributed feed resources. One single-space wet/dry feeder was provided for every 10 pigs, and floor allowance was 0.76 m2/pig in all treatment groups. Weight gain and feed intake were measured every 2 wk. At weighing, a tail-biting injury score was given to each pig. Blood samples were collected and analyzed for neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio before regrouping at the beginning of the experiment, 24 to 48 h after regrouping, and on the last day of each trial. The use of feeders by individual pigs was assessed by behavioral observations. Average daily gain for the entire 12-wk trial did not differ among group sizes (861, 873, 854, and 845 g/d for groups of 10, 20, 40, and 80, respectively; P > 0.10). During the first 2 wk, ADG was lower for pigs in groups of 40 (554 g/d) than pigs in groups of 10 (632 g/d; P < 0.05), but not pigs in groups of 20 or 80 (602 and 605 g/d, respectively). Average daily feed intake, feed efficiency, and variability in final BW within a pen also did not differ among group sizes. Tail-biting injury scores increased throughout the study, but did not differ among group sizes. Similar proportions of pigs were removed from the trial for health reasons, primarily due to tail biting, in all treatments. Individual pigs in each group size ate from most, if not all, of the feeders in the pen. There was no evidence of spatial subgrouping within the larger groups. The results suggest that housing growing-finishing pigs in groups of up to 80 pigs is not detrimental to productivity and health if space allowance is adequate and feed resources are evenly distributed.  相似文献   

5.
Immunologic reactions of pigs regrouped at or near weaning   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  
Using 64 pigs, 2 experiments (32 pigs each) were conducted to evaluate the effects of regrouping nonlittermate pigs at weaning or 2 weeks after weaning on mitogen-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis, intradermal reactions to phytohemagglutinin, and primary antibody responses to sheep erythrocytes. Plasma cortisol concentrations were determined in all pigs and behavior of regrouped pigs was monitored. Compared with control values, plasma cortisol concentrations were higher in nonlittermate pigs regrouped at weaning (P less than 0.001) or 2 weeks after weaning (P less than 0.01). However, regrouping pigs at weaning or 2 weeks after weaning did not influence lymphocyte blastogenesis, phytohemagglutinin skin-test responses, or antibody titers to sheep erythrocytes. Plasma cortisol concentrations were not related to agonistic behavior in regrouped pigs or to lymphocyte blastogenic or phytohemagglutinin skin-test responses; however, higher plasma cortisol concentrations were related (P less than 0.05) to lower sheep erythrocyte antibody titers. These data indicate that regrouping nonlittermate pigs at weaning or 2 weeks after weaning is an acute stressor that does not detrimentally affect mitogen-induced lymphocyte blastogenesis, intradermal reactions to phytohemagglutinin, or primary antibody responses to sheep erythrocytes.  相似文献   

6.
The experiment involved 40 mid-lactating Comisana ewes. The animals were housed in straw-bedded pens and assigned to a control group (n = 10) and two test groups of 15 subjects each. Control ewes were never moved from their pen and peers throughout the experiment period, whereas test animals were subjected to either regrouping (RG) or regrouping and relocation (RGRL) three times at weekly intervals (d 7, 14, and 21 of the trial). Three behavioral recordings were conducted after each social and pen exchange over a 6-h period (1000 to 1600). Animals from groups RG and RGRL were bled immediately before each regrouping and relocation and 15 and 60 min afterward. The phytohemagglutinin skin test was performed at d 9, 16, and 23. Milk yield was recorded when the ewes were mixed and moved, and before and after each mixing and moving procedure. Individual milk samples were analyzed for composition, renneting parameters, and bacteriological characteristics; samples with more than 10(6) somatic cells/mL were cultured for mastitis-related pathogens. Control ewes spent more time lying than groups RG (P < 0.001) and RGRL (P < 0.01) and less time in ambulatory activities than RGRL sheep (P < 0.05). Moved and remaining ewes showed a higher number of aggressive interactions than control subjects (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). Control sheep showed the highest cell-mediated immune response compared with both moved and mixed ewes (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). The RGRL ewes gave lower yields of milk than did the control ewes on the days after the first (P < 0.05) and the second (P < 0.01) change of pen and peers. The RGRL ewes also had a lower fat content (P < 0.05) than control ewes in the milk yielded on the day of the first regrouping and relocation and a lower milk protein content (P < 0.05) on the following day. The RG treatment resulted in the ewes yielding milk with a lower fat content (P < 0.01) on the day of each mixing procedure as compared with controls and in a decreased milk protein content on the days after the first (P < 0.05) and the second regrouping (P < 0.01). One case of subclinical mastitis was recorded in both the RG and RGRL groups, whereas no cases were detected in control group. These findings suggest that regrouping and relocation may cause increased aggression, altered immune responses, and short-term effects on the production performance of lactating ewes. These practices should be performed by attempting to minimize their impact on animal welfare.  相似文献   

7.
We report a study on crossbred growing pig ((Duroc × Pietrain) × Large White) that measured the effect of tropical conditions on respiration rate (RR), skin temperature (ST), rectal temperature (RT) and productivity and determined the efficacy of two simple cooling methods. The experiment was a randomized complete block design using 120 growing pigs. The factors were cooling system and pen design. The effects of two cooling systems (water bath (WB) and sprinkling (S)) were evaluated and compared with a control (CON). Cooling systems were tested in pens with (Y) or without an additional outdoor yard (NY). The pens were similar to those used in small-scale pig keeping in South-East Asia. The inside pen size was 2.5 × 3 m, the yard was 2.5 × 2 m. The same experimental design was used in two blocks: one block was in the wet season with average ambient temperature (T) of 27.5 °C and average relative humidity (RH) of 74.7% and the other was in the dry season with average T of 28.7 °C and average RH of 62.8%. In each block a batch of 60 pigs was reared in 12 pens (five pigs per pen). Pigs had free access to feed and water. Results showed that cooling and pen type significantly affected most parameters. The bath and S reduced RR by 4.2 and 5.2 min− 1, respectively (P < 0.01), and ST by 0.3 and 0.4 °C, respectively, (P < 0.05). Rectal temperature was not influenced by any treatment. The bath significantly reduced number of defecations and urinations in the resting area in pens NY (P < 0.001). A yard reduced the number of excretions in the resting area (P < 0.01). There were significant interaction effects of cooling and pen type on lying, lateral lying, and huddling (P < 0.01; P < 0.001; P < 0.01, respectively). Daily weight gain was 6 g d− 1 more with WB and 50 g d− 1 more with S (P < 0.05). The biggest daily weight gain was achieved when S was combined with a pen NY (P < 0.01).

We conclude that the physiologic and behavioral responses and hence productivity of group-housed growing pigs raised under tropical climate conditions benefited from the simple cooling systems tested and were affected by the presence of a yard. A fall in the high respiration rate indicated that cooling with the bath or sprinkling alleviated the pigs' heat stress.  相似文献   


8.
Large White × Landrace pigs weaned at 24–29 days were placed in a structured environment planned as a 2 × 2 factoral design. The two variables were the presence or absence of a box (1.2 m × 0.92 m × 0.86 m) and the presence or absence of an extended floor which increased the solid area in the control pen from 60% of the total area to 80%. The box with no extended floor exceeded all other environments in stimulating the relative growth rates of the piglets. On removal of the temperature covariance the box still accounted for most of the variance in relative growth rate. Elements of the box (element 1, corner, back and side wall; element 2, corner, front and side wall; element 3, side wall only; element 4, back wall only) were tested for effect on relative growth rate and it was found that element 3, side wall only, promoted the most regular growth rates. The rates of agonistic behaviour over each 10 min were not significantly different for pigs in any of the tested environments.  相似文献   

9.
We assessed the efficacy of Butafosfan, a component of Catosal, in the metaphylactic treatment of stress in pigs. Four 6-week-old female littermates were taken from 12 litters. They were confronted with a pig from a different litter for 2 h. There were 24 pairs, each consisting of confronting two unfamiliar pigs in a new pen. This housing of unfamiliar pigs provides a good, but simple, model of the psychosocial stress that pigs experience when housed in large groups on pig farms. Immediately before being housed with an unfamiliar pig, 12 pairs of pigs were injected subcutaneously with Catosal at a dose equivalent to 20 mg Butafosfan per kg body weight; the other 12 pairs received the control solution containing all ingredients of Catosal except Butafosfan. The frequency and duration of aggressive behavior and the salivary cortisol response were measured during the first 2 h of the encounter. No adverse effects associated with Catosal were observed. Subcutaneous injection of Catosal reduced the stress-induced salivary cortisol response and the frequency of aggressive behavior evoked by the social stress of housing two unfamiliar pigs together.  相似文献   

10.
A standardised and comprehensive approach to describe dominance relationships in gregarious farm animals quantitatively was recently developed, incorporating a combination of appropriate sociometric measures. The present study applied this approach to a comparative analysis of the social hierarchies within 57 groups of domestic pigs at different age/production stages with a total of 496 animals. Unacquainted pigs were grouped to three age categories which correspond to the typical production stages: weaned pigs (PIG28, 12 groups), growing pigs (PIG80, 16 groups), and reproductive sows (SOW, 29 groups). Based on observed agonistic interactions, sociometric values were calculated both at the dyadic and at the group level and may be considered as preliminary reference values for further studies. As indicated by the respective values of the Kendall index (PIG28: 0.66, tested as significant in 69.0% of the observed groups; PIG80: 0.71, 87.5%; SOW: 0.61, 69.0%), and the improved Landau index (PIG28: 0.70, 75.0%; PIG80: 0.72, 93.7%; SOW: 0.71, 72.4%), a social organisation towards a quasi-linear social hierarchy was predominantly developed throughout all age/production categories. However, compared to weaned and growing pigs, sows were characterised by significant differences concerning establishment (fewer agonistic interactions) and kind (more unknown dyads, fewer two-way and significant dyads, higher directional consistency index) of their social hierarchy. It seems that sows have effectively adapted their agonistic behaviour towards pen-mates to regulate social dominance relationships, whereas younger pigs frequently display agonistic interactions also to gain additional experience on social cues (e.g. the fighting ability of an opponent). Hence, it is concluded that the effective experience of socialisation during sensitive periods may increase the social skills of pigs which in turn can improve their welfare and health, e.g. by adjusted aggressive behaviour. The consideration of comparable and standardised sociometric measures in livestock breeding may help to improve husbandry conditions.  相似文献   

11.
Pigs housed in groups received different handling treatments for 40 d until slaughter age. Pigs of the human interaction (HI) and refusal of contact (RC) groups were individually introduced into a pen each day, where they remained for 3 min in the presence of a squatted handler. The handler tried to increase progressively physical reciprocal interactions with the HI pigs using eye and body contact and voice. The handler remained immobile and avoided eye contact and use of voice with RC pigs. These pigs were pushed away when they touched the handler. Control pigs remained in their home pens. Over sessions, HI pigs progressively increased physical interactions with the handler, up to 35% of their time. The RC pigs were motivated to interact with the handler as they tried to establish physical contact with the handler throughout the experiment. They increased levels of locomotion, rubbing, immobility, and snout contact with the wall, suggesting that they were frustrated by the refusal of contact. At the end of the experimental period, all pigs were subjected to three human exposure tests, where pigs were exposed to the handler and two other persons, one of which was unfamiliar, in a Latin square design. During this test, behavior of the humans was the same as for the RC treatment. The HI pigs discriminated between the handler and the other persons as indicated by their increased approach behavior towards the handler. Part of the prior handling experience was generalized to other humans as indicated by higher levels of proximity of HI and RC pigs with the different persons compared with controls. Physical contact with the human was associated with increased heart rates. Two possibilities are that these two characteristics are part of a general behavioral/physiological reactive profile, or that contact with humans provokes an arousal or emotional response. Despite this, behavioral data show that pigs are motivated to be in physical contact with a handler, even when the handler consistently refuses contact.  相似文献   

12.
Male pigs are significantly more often found to be tail-bitten at slaughter than are females. Age is also thought to be a crucial factor in relation to the ontogeny of tail-biting among slaughter pigs. Tail-in-mouth behaviour (TIM) among young pigs is probably the precursor of the damaging tail-biting in older pigs. Hence, this experiment aimed to elucidate the frequency of TIM in relation to gender, age and group composition regarding gender in weaner pigs. Pigs were reared in groups of 24 until 5 weeks of age and then divided into three groups: (A) eight female pigs, (B) eight castrated male pigs and (C) four female and four castrated male pigs (mixed pen). Observations was performed through video-recording 12 h per day, 1 day per week, for 4 consecutive weeks. The number of TIM events (counts) as well as the identity of the performer and the receiver of TIM were recorded. The results showed that the level of TIM activity in the single-gender pens was significantly lower than in the mixed pen (P<0.05). In the mixed pen, TIM tended to be more directed towards the opposite gender and female pigs tended to perform more TIM than the males. Finally, the frequency of TIM increased significantly with age in all three pens (P<0.01).  相似文献   

13.
The objective of this research was to estimate phenotypic relationships among backtest scores (BTS), resident-intruder test scores (RIS), growth rate, LM area, and backfat in pigs. Little is known about the relationships among measures of behavioral characteristics of individual pigs and economically important traits. However, it may be expected that a pig's behavior affects its performance and that of its pen mates. The backtest was used in this experiment because it was previously shown to be a measure of individual stress-coping behavior and was related to lean gain. The resident-intruder test was used because it is a measure of a pig's tendency for aggressive behavior toward an unfamiliar pig. Each test was performed twice on pigs (n = 150) from 20 litters, and complete performance data was available on 140 pigs. Between 7 and 14 d of age, the backtest was performed by placing each pig in a supine position and gently restraining it for 60 s. The number of escape attempts (bouts of struggling) and total time spent struggling were recorded. The BTS was the summation of escape attempts during both tests. Resident intruder tests were assessed when pigs were between 30 and 50 d of age. A solid divider was placed in the resident pig's pen. The resident was placed alone on 1 side of the divider, away from its penmates. An intruder pig of the same sex and smaller size was then placed into the pen. When an attack was initiated by the resident, the pigs were immediately separated, the test was terminated, and a score of 1 was recorded. If no attack occurred by 5 min, the test was terminated and was given a score of zero. The cumulative score from both tests was the RIS. Dam effects influenced BTS (P < 0.01) and RIS (P < 0.03). Preweaning ADG of pigs with a BTS of 8 was 120 g greater than that of pigs with a BTS of 2. However, ADG from 20 to 76 d of age was 131 g greater in pigs with BTS = 2 than in pigs with BTS = 8. Lean gain of pigs with RIS = 2 was 25 g/d greater than in those with RIS = 0 or 1. This resulted in pigs with RIS = 2 having 1.6 kg more acceptable, standardized, fat-free lean. Conflicting results were found when relating the BTS to performance. However, with the RIS, greater aggression toward other pigs was associated with better performance. It was concluded that an unfavorable phenotypic relationship existed between RIS and lean growth.  相似文献   

14.
The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of ractopamine (RAC) on the behavior and physiology of pigs during handling and transport. Twenty-four groups of three gilts were randomly assigned to one of two treatments 4 wk before slaughter: finishing feed plus RAC (10 ppm) or finishing feed alone. Pigs were housed in the same building in adjacent pens with fully slatted floors and ad libitum access to feed and water. Behavioral time budgets were determined in six pens per treatment over a single 24-h period during each week. Behavioral responses of these pigs to routine handling and weighing were determined at the start of the trial and at the end of each week. Heart-rate responses to unfamiliar human presence were measured in all pigs and blood samples were taken from a single pig in each pen on different days during wk 4. At the end of wk 4, all pigs were transported for 22 min to processing. Heart rate was recorded from at least one pig per pen during transport and a postmortem blood sample was taken from those pigs that were previously sampled. During wk 1 and 2, RAC pigs spent more time active (P < 0.05), more time alert (P < 0.05), and less time lying in lateral recumbency (P < 0.05). They also spent more time at the feeder in wk 1 (P < 0.05). At the start of the trial, there were no differences in behavioral responses to handling. However, over each of the next 4 wk, fewer RAC pigs exited the home pen voluntarily, they took longer to remove from the home pen, longer to handle into the weighing scale and needed more pats, slaps, and pushes from the handler to enter the scales. At the end of wk 4, RAC pigs had higher heart rates in the presence of an unfamiliar human (P < 0.05) and during transport (P < 0.05), but not during loading and unloading. Also at the end of wk 4, RAC pigs had higher circulating catecholamine concentrations (P < 0.05) than control pigs. Circulating cortisol concentrations and cortisol responses to transport did not differ between treatments. The results show that ractopamine affected behavior, heart rate, and catecholamine profile of finishing pigs and made them more difficult to handle and potentially more susceptible to handling and transport stress.  相似文献   

15.
Eight experiments were conducted to determine the effect of a single administration of amperozide on agonistic behavior and growth performance in newly mixed, restricted-fed pigs. Two hundred 12-wk-old pigs were used in a 4-wk trial (Exp. 1) to investigate the effect of amperozide on agonistic behavior and performance. The pigs were assigned to each pen on the basis of body weight and sex, ensuring that pigs in each pen were unacquainted. Each pig was weighed individually on d 3, 7 and 28. Agonistic behavior was quantified by counting bite and slash marks on each pig at 8, 26 and 48 h after penning. An i.m. injection of amperozide immediately before mixing the pigs reduced the physical damage (P less than .001) at each time point. There was no evidence of amperozide causing either sedation or motor disturbances. On the average, amperozide treatment improved (P less than .001) daily gain in the 4-wk study period by 70 g (17%). In Exp. 2 to 8, 1,648 pigs growing from approximately 20 to 100 kg body weight were used to determine the effect of amperozide on weight gain. Pigs were penned in groups of 9 to 11, randomly assigned to each pen on the basis of sex. Each pig was weighed individually after penning, on d 35 and at slaughter. Untreated control pigs had a poorer growth performance than did amperozide-treated pigs. During the first 5 wk postpenning average daily gain was improved (P less than .001) by 90 g (26%) in pigs receiving a single oral administration of amperozide at penning.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)  相似文献   

16.
Quantified transmission parameters of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) are needed for epidemic models used for control and surveillance. In this study, we quantified the within- and between-pen transmission of FMDV in groups of pigs by estimating the daily transmission rate beta, i.e. the number of secondary infections caused by one infectious pig during one day, using an SIR (susceptible-infectious-removed) model. Within-pen transmission was studied in four groups of ten pigs in which 5 infected and 5 susceptible pigs had direct contact; between-pen transmission was studied in one group of ten pigs in which 5 infected and 5 susceptible pigs had indirect contact. Daily results of virus isolation of oropharyngeal fluid were used to quantify the transmission rate beta, using Generalised Linear Modelling (GLM) and a maximum likelihood method. In addition, we estimated the expected time to infection of the first pig within a pen T(w) and in the indirect-contact pen T(b). The between-pen transmission rate beta(b) was estimated to be 0.59 (0.083-4.18) per day, which was significantly lower than the within-pen transmission rate beta(w) of 6.14 (3.75-10.06). T(w) was 1.6 h, and T(b) was 16 h. Our results show that the transmission rate is influenced by contact structure between pigs.  相似文献   

17.
The aim of this study was to compare a split marketing (SM) strategy, in which the heaviest pigs in a group are removed and slaughtered earlier than the others, with an all-out (AO) marketing strategy, in which all pigs are removed from the pen simultaneously and slaughtered on the same day, in terms of welfare, performance, and carcass traits of noncastrated (i.e., intact) male and female pigs. The experimental treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial array with 1) marketing strategy (SM vs. AO) and 2) sex (males vs. females), which yielded 4 treatment groups of 14 pigs (73.1 ± 4.8 kg): male SM, male AO, female SM, and female AO (7 replicates/group). Pigs in AO groups were all slaughtered after 6 wk on trial, whereas in SM groups the 3 heaviest pigs were removed and slaughtered 2 wk before the remainder of the group, which were slaughtered at the same time as the AO pigs. Pigs were fed a liquid diet from a long trough 3 times daily. Behavioral observations were conducted before and after SM, the day of SM, and 1 and 2 wk later. Behavior was recorded both during and between feed events, and skin lesions were scored on all, except the 3 pigs removed from SM groups before and 2 wk after SM. Growth performance, feed efficiency, and carcass traits were recorded. The number of aggressive interactions during feed events decreased after the 3 pigs were removed from SM groups. This reduction in aggressive interactions was observed on the day of SM in male groups (before SM: 24.3 vs. the day of SM: 14.7, SED = 3.31, P < 0.05 for interaction) and in subsequent observations in female groups (before SM: 21.4 vs. days after SM: 13.4, SED = 3.31, P < 0.05 for interaction). However, SM had no effect on behaviors recorded between feed events or on the number and severity of skin lesions (P > 0.10). There were no differences between the 11 remaining pigs in SM groups and the 14 pigs in AO groups in terms of growth performance, feed efficiency, and carcass traits of female or intact male pigs (P > 0.10). However, reduced within-pen CV in carcass weight was detected in pigs from SM groups compared with pigs from AO groups (8.6 vs. 10.9, SEM = 0.72, P < 0.05). Therefore, in restrictively fed pigs, a SM strategy improved the welfare of both female and intact male pigs by reducing aggressive interactions during feeding but had no effect on performance or carcass traits.  相似文献   

18.
We provided comfortable resting areas in pens and tools for self-grooming and suppressing aggressive behavior for environmental enrichment in Japanese black and Japanese Shorthorn calves. At the start of the experiment, the black calves ( n  = 10) were 164 days old and 138 kg in weight, and the Japanese Shorthorn calves ( n  = 10) were 176 days old and 164 kg in weight. Calves of each breed were divided into two groups (the enrichment group and the non-treatment group), and each group was housed in a 4 m × 7.2 m pen. The effect of enrichment on calf welfare was estimated on the basis of daily weight gain and behavior. The brush stimulated the grooming behavior in calves although the mean time of using the brush decreased during the experiment. The partition of the feed trough and the wooden wall in the pen decreased the agonistic behavior in Japanese Shorthorn calves ( P  < 0.01) and increased the affiliative behavior in Japanese black calves ( P  = 0.08). The cleanliness of the bedding increased sternum lying and lying with the head touching the flank or ground in Japanese black calves and decreased the standing resting behavior in both breeds ( P  < 0.05 in all the cases). However, the treatments did not have an effect on daily weight gain. We concluded that the treatments would improve the welfare of calves and function as environmental enrichments.  相似文献   

19.
Catrin Borberg  Steffen Hoy   《Livestock Science》2009,125(2-3):314-317
A total number of 26 groups of 8 sows each were mixed after weaning the piglets in a special stimulation pen, including 13 groups with and 13 groups without boar presence. Behavioural measurements were taken for 48 h after mixing and all agonistic interactions (AI) were recorded into a winner–loser-matrix. Additionally, the duration of the AI and the start situation (aggressor–receiver) were determined. Also the skin lesions of each sow 24 h before and after mixing were scored. A total of 90% of the AI were initiated by the dominant sow in the concerned dyad. In more than 50% of all cases low ranking sows were attacked by higher ranking sows. Low ranking sows had a significantly higher skin lesion score than high ranking sows (9.6 vs 6.9). 12.8% of the AI were fights. Fights (mean duration: 30 s) took ten times longer than attacks. Boar presence did not affect the total number of AI per sow but decreased the number of fights to almost half (3.6 vs 6.4). Duration of fighting was shortened by boar presence (14.9 vs 39.6 s). The skin lesion score and the sociometric parameters were unaffected by treatment. Frequency of AI per group was affected by the microclimate and the number of acquainted dyads (pairs). The number of AI was reduced by a higher enthalpy and a higher number of acquainted sows, respectively.  相似文献   

20.
We studied the influence of pen uniformity at weaning (7.5 ± 0.6 kg vs. 7.5 ± 1.2 kg body weight (BW ± SD)) and sex on growth performance during the nursery (7.5 to 27.3 kg BW) and the fattening (27.1 to 130.5 kg BW) phases and carcass quality of barrows and castrated females (CF). During the nursery phase, pigs from the more uniform pens had lower feed efficiency (P = 0.05) than pigs from the less uniform pens. Also, barrows had higher average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P < 0.05) and average daily gain (P < 0.001) and better feed efficiency (P < 0.001) than CF. During the fattening phase, initial pen uniformity did not affect growth performance of the pigs but barrows tended (P = 0.08) to have higher ADFI and worse feed efficiency than CF. Trimmed primal cut yield tended to be higher for the more uniform pigs and better for barrows than for CF (P = 0.09). It is concluded that regrouping of the pigs at weaning according to uniformity of BW did not affect growth performance or carcass quality of the pigs at slaughter. Castrated females might be used as an alternative to barrows for the production of carcasses destined to the dry‐cured industry.  相似文献   

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