Enrichment in the Sucker and Weaner Phase Altered the Performance of Pigs in Three Behavioural Tests

Abstract

Simple SummaryTwo important questions about the intensive housing of pigs concern whether young pigs require environmental enrichment to enhance their welfare, and from what age should enrichment be provided to pigs to achieve the benefit? We provided sucker and weaner pigs with enrichment in the form of blocks, which they could push around the floor of the pen, compared to no blocks (‘barren’ control). Behavioural and physiological responses of the pigs were then measured in a series of standard tests used to assess fear response, learning, and cognitive ability. Enrichment blocks modified the behavioural responses of pigs in the different tests, suggesting enriched pigs were more willing to explore novel environments and they had increased ability to learn. However, our enrichment treatment did not alter the pigs’ cortisol response, suggesting any differences due to enrichment were subtle. In contrast, the altered behavioural responses probably indicate that although pigs readily learned complex tasks and modify their behaviour to suit the current situation, there may be some potential benefits from enrichment when applied during the early weeks of a pig’s life that might have life-long benefits for the animal and its welfare.AbstractWe tested the hypothesis that provision of enrichment in the form of enrichment blocks during the sucker and weaner phases would affect the behaviour of pigs. We measured the performance of pigs in an open field/novel object test, a maze test, an executive function test and the cortisol response of the pigs after exposure to an open field test. The provision of enrichment blocks altered the behaviour of the pigs in all three tests and these changes suggest an increased willingness to explore and possibly an increased ability to learn. The behavioural tests highlighted that young pigs have the capacity to learn complex tasks. Our findings support the notion that the benefits of enrichment cannot be evaluated by measuring the interactions the animal has with the enrichments in the home pen and it may simply be beneficial to live in a more complex environment. We have highlighted that the early rearing environment is important and that the management and husbandry at an early age can have long-term implications for pigs. The enrichment we used in this study was very simple, an enrichment block, and we provide evidence suggesting the provision of enrichment effected pig behavioural responses. Even the simplest of enrichments may have benefits for the welfare and development of young pigs and there is merit in developing enrichment devices that are suitable for use in pig production.

Compressed Brown Algae as a Potential Environmental Enrichment Material in Growing Pigs

“…There was no difference between treatments, although the cortisol level increased after transfer from the farrowing pen to the nursery pen. We hypothesized that algae cylinders, as a better source of stimulation than other material, would prepare the animals to cope with new stressing challenges (separation from the sow and changes in diet and environment) and to adapt faster to new situations, as suggested in other experiments [ 12 , 13 , 34 ]. The results tend to demonstrate that, in farrowing pens, the algae objects were not sufficient for piglets to enhance their ability to cope with a new situation.…”

The Open Field test as a tool for behavior analysis in pigs - is a standardization of setup necessary? A systematic review

“…Thirty-four studies (50.7%) did only perform an OF test whereas another 35 studies additionally used NOT and/or HAT (Figure Figure 6: Duration pigs spent in a start box, in the Open Field with additional NOT or HAT.). In six studies (8.7%) a start box with an initial waiting and acclimatization time was used with a mean of 2.14min ± 1.87 [53,62,63,68,71,77]. In the majority of studies, the OF behavioral test lasted for 10 min (8.92 min ±12.2).…”

The Open Field Test as a Tool for Behaviour Analysis in Pigs: Recommendations for Set-Up Standardization – A Systematic Review

“…In addition to the field dimensions, other parameters may also have an impact on the behaviour of pigs during the OFT. Ralph et al [ 13 ] noted that pen enrichment during the sucking and weaner phases alters the performance of piglets. Later, Tatemoto [ 14 ] additionally demonstrated that maternal behaviour influences the piglets' behaviour via foetal reprogramming.…”

“…A review by Forkman et al [ 18 ] also investigated the repeatability of this test, demonstrating heterogeneous results encompassing no [ 19 ] to positive repeatability [ 20 ]. Several factors are known to also influence the NOT, such as enrichment in the home pen [ 13 , 21 ], an individual's character [ 15 ] or epigenetic characteristics [ 14 ].…”