Long-term effects of straw blocks in pens with finishing pigs and the interaction with boar type

Bulens, Anneleen; Beirendonck, Sanne Van; Thielen, Jos Van; Buys, Nadine; Driessen, Bert

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2016.01.008

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Beattie et al (2000) observed increased growth rates and carcase weight in pigs that were allowed extra space and a rack containing peat and straw. Our results failed to find such improvements in growth parameters, in agreement with the studies carried out by Klont et al (2001) and Bulens et al (2016), who also observed no differences in productive parameters when pigs were raised in straw-enriched vs. barren environments. However, given the limited number of replications used in the present trials, productive data should be considered as only indicative pending further and extensive on-farm testing.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…To overcome this issue, it could be possible to design successful point-source enrichment objects. Bulens et al (2016) showed that dispensers containing compressed straw blocks were able to attract pigs' curiosity during all finishing stages (up to 120 kg) and reduced pen mates manipulation. Similarly, Scollo et al (2013) observed that heavy pigs showed a rather constant motivation towards long straw allocated in a metal rack.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Enrichment devices for undocked heavy pigs: effects on animal welfare, blood parameters and production traits

Nannoni

Sardi

Vitali

et al. 2018

Italian Journal of Animal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two independent trials were carried out to test the effectiveness of different environmental enrichments in improving Italian heavy pigs' welfare. Eighty undocked Landrace Â Large White barrows (body weight range: 27.1-158.4 kg) were used. In Trial 1, group C1 received a metal chain and group WL wooden logs (placed inside a specifically designed metal rack). In trial two, the enrichments proposed were a hanging chain (C2), and a vegetal edible block (EB) inside the metal rack. General health, animal behaviour, hair cortisol, blood parameters and growth performance were recorded. In Trial 1, WL pigs interacted with the enrichment at a lower extent than C1 (p < .01) and walked less (p < .05). In Trial 2, EB pigs spent less time in lateral recumbency and rooting/exploring the pen floor (p < .05 and p < .01, respectively), and interacted more with the enrichment (p < .001) than C2. Motivation to explore both WL and EB was maintained over time, conversely to what happened to C1 and C2. No differences were observed in hair cortisol concentration, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, skin lesions and growth parameters. Tail lesions were higher in WL than in C1 (p < .05) Minor, transient differences were found in plasma biomarkers. Overall, WL had limited effect on behaviour, whereas EB might have reduced floor over-exploration when compared to the chains. It is concluded that, although from an animal behaviour standpoint EB might be promising, regardless of the device used (C, WL or EB), all experimental groups showed similar welfare parameters levels, stimulating the necessity for wider research on enrichment design and function.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enrichment devices for undocked heavy pigs: effects on animal welfare, blood parameters and production traits

Nannoni

Sardi

Vitali

et al. 2018

Italian Journal of Animal Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…According to Bulens et al (2016), the provision of straw blocks reduced pen mates manipulation (e.g., tail and ear biting, belly-nosing) in finishing pigs. As it has been extensively reviewed by Bracke et al (2006), various enrichment tools and materials have been proposed for piglets, including: cloth strips, rubber hoses, different amounts of straw, ropes, wood blocks, wood beams, straw racks, dog toys, mineral blocks, roughage and substrates (compost, earth, sawdust, peat).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of different enrichment devices on some welfare indicators of post-weaned undocked piglets

Nannoni

Sardi

Vitali

et al. 2016

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two experimental trials were carried out in order to test the effectiveness of different environmental enrichments in improving the welfare of weaned pigs. A total of 120 undocked piglets was used. In trial one, group C1 received a metal chain and group WL a wooden log mounted on a frame. In trial two, the enrichments proposed were a hanging chain (group C2), an edible block (group ED) and a wooden briquette (group WB) mounted on a frame. The effectiveness of the enrichments was assessed in terms of animal behaviour, cortisol from bristles, hematologic and hematic profiles, cutaneous (skin and tail) lesions. Growth parameters were also recorded. Although some differences were detected in growth parameters in trial 1 (with C1 group having better productive outcomes than WL group) and some minor differences were observed in animal behaviour in both trials, the overall welfare status did not differ among the experimental groups. On the other hand, no welfare issues emerged in groups C1 and C2, receiving the enrichment device which is generally believed to be scarcely attractive, i.e. the hanging chain. We can therefore conclude that, if no managerial errors are made (floor space availability, feed inadequacy, group stability, microclimate, illumination), under the tested experimental conditions, hanging chains can provide a sufficient environmental enrichment for undocked piglets, even when compared to more attractive enrichments (e.g. an edible block).

show abstract

“…This is important, because any negative effect of environmental enrichment on carcass quality would hamper its adoption in practice (Van de Weerd and Day 2009). Other studies that enriched pigs' environment either with a small amount of straw (Peeters et al 2006;Bulens et al 2016Bulens et al , 2018 or with straw bedding and additional space (Geverink et al 1999;Klont et al 2001) reported similar results. However, Beattie et al (2000) found significantly heavier carcass weights and greater levels of backfat thickness in pigs from environment enriched with straw in racks, peat, and additional space.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Improvement of pork characteristics under commercial conditions with small amount of straw or hay

Jordan

Štuhec

Z̆gur

2018

Journal of Applied Animal Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of small amount of straw or hay (100 g/animal/day) and gender on pork characteristics, measured on slaughter line in longissimus dorsi et lumborum (LD) and semimembranosus (SM) muscles. We performed two replicates, each including 96 fattening pigs (half gilts and half barrows) reared under commercial conditions. Treatment had no effect on carcass characteristics and pH 45 in both muscles. The straw and hay treatments lowered pH 24 in LD muscle (straw: 5.71, hay: 5.74, control: 5.85), while hay treatment increased Fibre Optic Probe value (FOP 24 ) in SM muscle compared to straw treatment (hay: 33.15, straw: 29.26). Gender had no effect on meat characteristics, but the interaction between treatment and gender revealed differences in FOP 24 in SM muscle in gilts but not in barrows. Based on pH 24 in LD muscle, straw treatment lowered percentage of pigs with DFD meat (straw: 6.2%, control: 28.6%), whereas based on FOP 24 in SM muscle, hay treatment lowered percentage of pigs with DFD meat (hay: 9.4%, straw: 32.8%; control: 27.0%). We conclude that a small amount of straw or hay has a beneficial effect on meat quality as it lowered the incidence of DFD meat. ARTICLE HISTORY

show abstract

Long-term effects of straw blocks in pens with finishing pigs and the interaction with boar type

Cited by 15 publications

References 26 publications

Enrichment devices for undocked heavy pigs: effects on animal welfare, blood parameters and production traits

Enrichment devices for undocked heavy pigs: effects on animal welfare, blood parameters and production traits

Effects of different enrichment devices on some welfare indicators of post-weaned undocked piglets

Improvement of pork characteristics under commercial conditions with small amount of straw or hay

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About