Group gestation sow housing with individual feeding—II: How space allowance, group size and composition, and flooring affect sow welfare

Bench, C. J.; Rioja-Lang, Fiona C.; Hayne, S. M.; Gonyou, H. W.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2012.12.020

Cited by 64 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Given that feed order is relatively stable (Hunter et al, 1988;Chapinal et al, 2008) sows are familiar with their waiting partners and likely have an implicit hierarchy in place. Once inside the electronic feeder the sows eat alone and thus this feeding system is characterized as noncompetitive feeding (Bench et al, 2013). The large dynamic group also offers a pen with sufficient space for timid sows to escape or avoid the aggression of more dominant sows.…”

Section: Personality Traits In Gestating Sowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sows have been selected over the last several decades to perform in individual gestation stalls and may not be ideally suited for group housing. There are many potential stressors for group housed gestating sows, such as mixing with unfamiliar conspecifics or competing for access to limited resources such as feed or enrichment (Bench et al, 2013). While there has been previous research on individual differences in gilts and immature piglets, little to nothing is known about individual differences in the behavior of gestating sows.…”

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Temporal stability of personality traits in group-housed gestating sows

Horback

Parsons

2016

Animal

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The movement of sows (Sus scrofa domesticus) out of individual gestation stalls and into group housing can introduce new sources of stress due to the enhanced environmental and social complexity. Some sows may have the behavioral capacity to adapt to these changes better than others. However, little is known about individual differences in behavioral responses, or personality traits, in gestating sows and how they impact the animal's ability to cope with group housing. The temporal consistency in the assessment of an animal's behavior is a prerequisite to the establishment of personality traits and was addressed at an interval of approximately five months during two consecutive gestation periods in the present study. Forty-six group-housed sows from a commercially available genetic line were assessed for aggressive and social behaviors at mixing into a group, reaction to human approach, ease of handling, exploration of an open field, and reaction to a novel object. Principal component analysis revealed the presence of three traits accounting for over 60% of the variance in behaviors: aggressive/dominant, avoidant of humans and active/exploratory. Individual component scores were significantly correlated between pregnancies demonstrating temporal stability of trait assessment. Significant relationships were found between aggressive/dominant component scores and individual feed rank at electronic sow feeding stations and skin lesion scores, as well as between avoidant of humans component scores and average number of stillbirths per litter. These findings provide evidence for the temporal stability of distinct behaviors contributing to personality traits within a group of genetically similar sows and demonstrate how these traits may be useful in identifying individuals likely to succeed in group housing.Keywords: sow, group-housed, gestation, behavior, personality ImplicationsDue to both legislative and market driven initiatives, swine farmers have been asked to transition their sows from individual gestation stalls to group pens. These housing systems introduce increased complexity of environmental and social stimuli. A better understanding of the variation in individual behavior of gestating sows and its consequences can inform pork producers on how best to manage sows at an individual level in group housing. IntroductionDetermining differences in personality traits for livestock may help to identify certain individuals which possess an increased ability to cope with environmental and/or social stressors (Gosling, 2001;Bolhuis et al., 2003). For example, personality differences have been shown to be significantly related to immunity function and stress response (Segerstrom, 2000;Koolhaas, 2008). Therefore, personality assessment of gestating sows may help in identifying individuals better able to cope with the enhanced environmental and social complexities associated with the transition from stall to group housing. Both legislative initiatives (EU Council Directive 2008/120/EC) and market forces (Matthews and Hem...

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Section: Personality Traits In Gestating Sowsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Temporal stability of personality traits in group-housed gestating sows

Horback

Parsons

2016

Animal

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“…Grouping and regrouping is common practice in pig production (Bench et al, 2013;Greenwood et al, 2014;Stevens et al, 2015). To test and verify our hypothesis that increased social and agonistic activity in gilts generates more claw lesions, the RR treatment was compared with NR (no regrouping).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An experimental model for studying claw lesions in growing female pigs

et al. 2016

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Problems with claw lesions leading to lameness are a growing concern in pig production.However, the causes and development of claw lesions are poorly understood and studies on prevention of claw lesion problems in gilts and sows are limited.This study tested a new experimental model which facilitates evaluation of the impact of different risk factors on pig feet lesions.The model consisted of using young gilts with a well-known background and promoting traumatic claw lesions for study purposes by increasing social and agonistic activity through regrouping on concrete flooring. Then claw lesions were assessed systematically and objectively on feet after slaughter. To test the model, two levels of exposure to concrete flooring were compared; normal activity in groups of gilts (no regrouping = NR) and increased activity in groups of gilts by performing several regroupings (repeated regrouping = RR).A total of 72 gilts (pairs of litter mates) in two batches, aged 4 months, were randomly distributed to the two treatments (NR and RR) in group pens (3 gilts per pen) with concrete 2 flooring. The gilts were given approximately 200 g of straw per gilt every day. At 8, 9 and 10 months of age, half the gilts (36 animals) were regrouped with each other. At 11 months of age, all gilts in both treatments were slaughtered and the left rear foot from each was removed and collected for detailed studies of claw lesions. Lesions of the heel, transition heel/toe, white line, wall and toe and over-growth of the heel were assessed on the outer and inner digit. Blind scoring of claw lesions on a scale from 0 to 3 was carried out in laboratory conditions on cleaned claws. Body lesions were also blind-scored on a scale from 0 to 3 one week after the third regrouping.The results showed claw lesions on the soft and hard horn of the claws and significantly (p=0.004) higher claw lesion score in RR gilts (0.40) than in NR gilts (0.23).It was concluded that as expected, regrouping gilts on concrete flooring resulted in both more numerous and more severe claw lesions than ungrouped gilts. Likewise, body lesion score was significantly (p<0.001) higher in RR gilts (1.71) than NR gilts (0.46).It was also concluded that the proposed model could be a successful experimental design for challenging different risk factors, e.g. flooring and management, for development of claw lesions in pigs.

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“…One of the options which EU producers can choose is an electronic sow feeder (ESF) system (Bench, Rioja-Lang, Hayne, & Gonyou, 2013a, 2013bLevis, 2013;Olsson, Andersson, Botermans, Rantzer, & Svendsen, 2011). The ESF system enables producers to control the amount of feed for each pregnant pig in group housing, and it also records how much feed has been dispensed and how long each pig stays in the feeding station, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increased nutrients and energy are needed, especially in late gestation when fetuses are growing rapidly. However, some pregnant pigs do not adapt to the ESF system, and such pigs have to be displaced from the group to a hospital pen or a stall (Bench et al, 2013b;Chapinal et al, 2010a). Despite this, no studies have reported on the displacement hazard of gilts and sows in static groups in commercial herds, nor the association between eating behavior (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavior, Displacement and Pregnancy Loss in Pigs under an Electronic Sow Feeder

Iida¹,

Piñeiro²,

Koketsu³

2017

JAS

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Our objective was to characterize eating behavior associated with displacement hazard and subsequent performance for pigs were fed in static groups by an electronic sow feeder (ESF). Data included weekly eating records and subsequent farrowing records of 685 pigs. The eating behavior comprised weekly averages of daily feed dispensed (ADFD) and daily total time spent in the feeding stations (TTSF). A displacement female was defined as a pig removed from her group for health reasons. A multivariate model and piecewise exponential models were fitted to the records. Means (inter-quartile ranges) of ADFD and TTSF were 2.4 kg (2.1-2.8 kg) and 9.3 min (7.5-10.8 min), respectively. Gilts had less ADFD than sows during gestational weeks 5-13 (P < 0.05), but there was no difference in TTSF between gilts and sows in gestational weeks 5-8 and 11-13 (P > 0.05). Also, gilts had higher displacement hazard than parity 2 or higher sows in gestational weeks 8-10 (P < 0.05). Pigs that were entered into the ESF system during summer had less ADFD, and shorter TTSF from gestational weeks 5 to 12 than those entered during the other seasons (P < 0.05). The TTSF varied between two genotypes during gestational weeks 5-7 (P < 0.05). Also, a higher displacement hazard was associated with less ADFD (P < 0.01). A higher hazard of pregnancy loss was associated with shorter TTSF (P < 0.01). In conclusion, we recommend that both ADFD and TTSF should be measured in ESF systems to help identity females having problems.

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Group gestation sow housing with individual feeding—II: How space allowance, group size and composition, and flooring affect sow welfare

Cited by 64 publications

References 47 publications

Temporal stability of personality traits in group-housed gestating sows

Temporal stability of personality traits in group-housed gestating sows

An experimental model for studying claw lesions in growing female pigs

Behavior, Displacement and Pregnancy Loss in Pigs under an Electronic Sow Feeder

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