Consequences of weaning piglets at 21 and 28 days on growth, behaviour and hormonal responses

Colson, Violaine; Orgeur, P.; Foury, Aline; Mormède, Pierre

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2005.08.014

Cited by 89 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In general, the age difference in the behavioural response of piglets reared in outdoor enclosures at weaning was similar to that reported for conventionally housed pigs Worobec et al, 1999;Colson et al, 2006). It must be pointed out that differences in the piglets' stage of development, which, in the present study, cannot be differentiated from responses to weaning, may explain some differences observed between the treatments.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…The distress associated with the separation from the sow and the inexperience with ingestion of solid feed at this age possibly underlie the low feeding behaviour during the first days after weaning, with a stronger effect on the youngest group. Intakes of solid feed and feeding frequency tend to be low during the first weeks after birth if piglets are with the sow (Weary et al, 2002;Colson et al, 2006). Additionally, intakes are highly variable among litters and within littermates (Pajor et al, 1991), and not all piglets consume solid feed when it is offered during lactation (Bruininx et al, 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Frequencies of vocalizations after separation from the sow are higher in piglets weaned at earlier than later ages Weary et al, 1999a;Colson et al, 2006), in smaller, lighter piglets (Weary and Fraser, 1995;Weary et al, 1996), in piglets kept in colder environments and in piglets treated aversively during lactation (Hö tzel et al, 2007). Though the high frequency of calls observed during the first 2 days after weaning in both treatments -varying from 3.5%-13.0% of the total observations -suggests that weaning was stressful for piglets of both ages, the lower call frequency in D30 than in D20 piglets indicates a better transition to weaning in the older piglets.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the effects of weaning age on the behaviour (Bøe, 1993;Weary et al, 1999a;Worobec et al, 1999) and physiology (Colson et al, 2006;Poletto et al, 2006;Jarvis et al, 2008;Sumner et al, 2008) of piglets are well documented, no studies on age comparison have been carried out with piglets housed in outdoor systems. Even considering that the stress response to weaning may be reduced by a richer lactation environment, age at weaning may influence the piglets' behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some factors that may underlie the different behavioural responses to weaning in piglets reared in conventional or outdoor systems are the opportunity to contact piglets of other litters during lactation, which decreases fighting after weaning (Pitts et al, 2000;Weary et al, 2002), and the reduction in suckling frequency, which seems to encourage the piglets to explore solid food and spend time away from the sow (Hö tzel et al, 2004). Also, access to a richer physical environment containing pasture, soil or other materials that allow piglets in outdoor environments to express exploratory and ingestive behaviours during lactation (Hö tzel et al, 2004;Leite et al, 2008) may increase feeding behaviour in the immediate post-weaning period, thereby reducing the period of starvation that usually accompanies weaning (Bruininx et al, 2002;Weary et al, 2002).Although the effects of weaning age on the behaviour (Bøe, 1993;Weary et al, 1999a;Worobec et al, 1999) and physiology (Colson et al, 2006;Poletto et al, 2006;Jarvis et al, 2008;Sumner et al, 2008) of piglets are well documented, no studies on age comparison have been carried out with piglets housed in outdoor systems. Even considering that the stress response to weaning may be reduced by a richer lactation environment, age at weaning may influence the piglets' behaviour.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Short-term behavioural effects of weaning age in outdoor-reared piglets

Hötzel

Filho

Irgang

et al. 2010

Animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Age at weaning affects the behaviour of piglets weaned in conventional confined environments. The adaptation of piglets to this event, which exposes piglets to important stressors, has not been examined in detail in outdoor systems. The aim of this study was to compare the behaviour of piglets weaned at 3 or 4 weeks of age in an outdoor production system. Six replicates of four piglets born and raised outdoors, originated from different litters but previously acquainted, were weaned at the age of approximately 20 (D20) or 30 (D30) days in 36 m 2 outdoor pens and offered high-quality diets. Their behaviour was recorded by direct visual observation during four consecutive days after weaning (days 1 to 4). Data were analysed by repeated measures ANOVA. An effect of weaning age was observed on feeding and rooting ( P , 0.01), and a day-by-weaning age interaction for escape attempts, vocalizing, walking and fighting ( P , 0.01), and playing ( P , 0.03). Compared to D30 piglets, D20 piglets showed a higher frequency of escape attempts on day 1, vocalized more during days 1 and 2, and walked more during days 1 to 3 ( P , 0.05). Feeding behaviour, on the other hand, was higher in D30 piglets on days 1 to 3 ( P , 0.05). On days 3 and 4, D30 piglets spent more time interacting with peers (playing and fighting; P , 0.05) and on day 4 were more active than D20 piglets ( P , 0.05). As previously reported in confined environments, age at weaning affected the behaviour of piglets raised on the outdoors system. Weaning appeared to be more stressful for the piglets at 3 than at 4 weeks of age. The impact of weaning age on welfare cannot be ignored, especially when outdoor breeding of pigs is proposed to address welfare concerns of the public.Keywords: pig, housing, social, ingestive, welfare ImplicationsIncreasing the age at weaning from 3 to 4 weeks improves the welfare of piglets reared outdoors by reducing distress behaviours and improving feeding behaviour. This is relevant considering that a key reason for rearing pigs in outdoor environments is to address ethical concerns of consumers regarding the wellbeing of the animals. IntroductionConventional weaning in the pig industry involves exposing young piglets to several concomitant stressors: transfer to a novel environment; separation from the sow and littermates, often mixing with unknown peers; and the loss of the main source of nutrition, i.e. milk. Because this is done without a period of transition necessary to make the solid feed attractive to the piglets, weaning generally is followed by a period of low feed intake (Weary et al., 2008). Additionally, at this age the digestive system of the piglets is not adapted to digest solid feed, which predisposes the young animals to diarrhoea and secondary infections (Dong and Pluske, 2007). In order to overcome this problem, diets especially designed for the digestive system of very young piglets have been formulated (Dritz et al., 1996). However, because the behaviour of piglets weaned at very young ages indicates distress an...

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Short-term behavioural effects of weaning age in outdoor-reared piglets

Hötzel

Filho

Irgang

et al. 2010

Animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Welfare of Pigs in the Farrowing Environment

Johnson

Marchant‐Forde²

The Welfare of Pigs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Physiological and behavioural responses to weaning conflict in free-ranging primate infants

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Weaning, characterized by maternal reduction of resources, is both psychologically and energetically stressful to mammalian offspring. Despite the importance of physiology in this process, previous studies have reported only indirect measures of weaning stress from infants, because of the difficulties of collecting physiological measures from free-ranging mammalian infants. Here we present some of the first data on the relationship between weaning and energetic and psychological stress in infant mammals. We collected data on 47 free-ranging rhesus macaque infants on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, showing that faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations were directly related to the frequency of maternal rejection, with fGCM concentrations increasing as rates of rejection increased. Infants with higher fGCM concentrations also engaged in higher rates of mother following, and mother following was associated with increased time on the nipple, suggesting that infants that experienced greater weaning-related stress increased their efforts to maintain proximity and contact with their mothers. Infants experiencing more frequent rejection uttered more distress vocalizations when being rejected; however, there was no relationship between rates of distress vocalizations and fGCM concentrations, suggesting a disassociation between behavioural and physiological stress responses to weaning. Elevated glucocorticoid concentrations during weaning may function to mobilize energy reserves and prepare the infant for continued maternal rejection and shortage of energetic resources.

show abstract

Consequences of weaning piglets at 21 and 28 days on growth, behaviour and hormonal responses

Cited by 89 publications

References 25 publications

Short-term behavioural effects of weaning age in outdoor-reared piglets

Short-term behavioural effects of weaning age in outdoor-reared piglets

Welfare of Pigs in the Farrowing Environment

Physiological and behavioural responses to weaning conflict in free-ranging primate infants

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About