Behavioural, growth and immune consequences of early weaning in one-week-old Large-White piglets

Abstract

-Genetic improvement in sows' prolificity is limited by their milk capacities, which do not allow all piglets to survive or grow normally. This experiment compared the behaviour, growth and immune responses of piglets that were weaned early at 6 days of age (EW) vs. control Large White piglets' (C) suckled by their mothers. Behaviour of 9 litters of 5 to 8 piglets in each group were observed from d5 to d20. All piglets were weighed from birth to d74. Three piglets from each group were slaughtered on d36 for immunological analysis. Until they began to eat dry food, EW piglets walked and vocalised more than C piglets. After that time, when resting, they were less often lying down and more frequently in contact with littermates under the heater. Aggressive behaviour and bellynosing were more frequent. They displayed a more marked growth check after weaning than did C piglets until 28 days of age. In EW piglets, at 36 days of age, there was a higher density of T-and B-lymphocytes in the gut epithelium and lamina propria, respectively, in relation to the size of lymphoid follicles of Peyer's patches. The results indicate great behavioural adaptation capacities of very early-weaned piglets, together with earlier maturation of their gut immune system. pig / weaning / behaviour / immunology / welfareRésumé -Conséquences sur le comportement, la croissance et le système immunitaire, d'un sevrage à l'âge d'une semaine, chez des porcelets Large-White. Les capacités laitières limitées des truies hyperprolifiques ne permettent pas à tous les porcelets de survivre ou de croître normalement. L'objectif de cette étude est de mesurer les paramètres comportementaux, zootechniques et immunologiques, exprimés par des porcelets Large-White sevrés ultra-précocement (EW) à 6 jours et des porcelets témoins (C) allaités par leur mère. Les comportements de 9 portées de 5 à 8 porcelets EW Reprod. Nutr. Dev. 41 (2001) [321][322][323][324][325][326][327][328][329][330][331][332] 321

Refinement of dendritic and synaptic networks in the rodent anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex: Critical impact of early and late social experience

“…What are the functional implications of the observed experienceinduced synaptic and dendritic changes in the prefrontal cortex? Behavioral studies in rodents and other mammals indicate that early weaning is able to induce alterations in adult emotional behaviors (Orgeur et al, 2001;Terranova and Laviola, 2001;Nakamura et al, 2003;Kikusui et al, 2004;Kanari et al, 2005). Likewise, an extensive literature has accumulated demonstrating that socially isolated rats exhibit many behavioral disorders such as anxiety, hyperactivity, and cognitive deficits that are mediated by limbic prefrontal areas (Jones et al, 1991;Domeney and Feldon, 1998;Del Arco et al, 2004;Weiss et al, 2004).…”

Relationship between litter size and perinatal and pre-weaning survival in pigs

“…In France, an effective selection for TB has resulted in large genetic progress in the Hyperprolific Large White (Bidanel et al, 1994). When 25% of the sows produce 15 or more piglets per litter, as reported by Orgeur et al (1998), sows' demands on the environment and management routines increases dramatically. Fostering, followed by weaning 1 week after birth is a method currently used to save surplus piglets (Orgeur et al, 2000).…”

Effects of Transport at Weaning on the Behavior, Physiology and Performance of Pigs

“…Reduced weight gain is commonly observed in pigs post-weaning and this response is greater in earlier weaned pigs. Pigs weaned at 1 week of age were found to take 12 h to 48 h to start consuming dry food [ 22 ] and had markedly reduced growth rates than pigs weaned at 14 or 28 days of age [ 16 ]. Reduced weight gain in pigs post-weaning is likely due to a combination of factors including reduced feed intake and lower feed quality/quantity as compared to what the pigs were receiving from their mother’s milk [ 12 ].…”