Piglets call for maternal attention: Vocal behaviour in Sus scrofa domesticus is modulated by mother's proximity

Iacobucci, Paolo; Colonnello, Valentina; D’Antuono, Laura; Cloutier, Sylvie; Newberry, Ruth C.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2015.08.006

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…When piglets are suddenly removed from the sow, they may show intense activity and characteristic patterns of vocalisation in the minutes and hours after separation and then disappear gradually over one or more days (Weary and Fraser, 1997). As piglets increase in age, their (vocalisation) response to isolation from the sow decreases in intensity (Weary and Fraser, 1997; Weary et al., 1999; Iacobucci et al., 2015). Piglets weaned at 2 weeks of age produced high‐frequency calls > 500 Hz.…”

Section: Assessment Of General Tors 1 2 Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Welfare of pigs on farm

Nielsen¹,

Álvarez²,

Bicout³

et al. 2022

EFS2

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This scientific opinion focuses on the welfare of pigs on farm, and is based on literature and expert opinion. All pig categories were assessed: gilts and dry sows, farrowing and lactating sows, suckling piglets, weaners, rearing pigs and boars. The most relevant husbandry systems used in Europe are described. For each system, highly relevant welfare consequences were identified, as well as related animal-based measures (ABMs), and hazards leading to the welfare consequences. Moreover, measures to prevent or correct the hazards and/or mitigate the welfare consequences are recommended. Recommendations are also provided on quantitative or qualitative criteria to answer specific questions on the welfare of pigs related to tail biting and related to the European Citizen's Initiative 'End the Cage Age'. For example, the AHAW Panel recommends how to mitigate group stress when dry sows and gilts are grouped immediately after weaning or in early pregnancy. Results of a comparative qualitative assessment suggested that long-stemmed or long-cut straw, hay or haylage is the most suitable material for nest-building. A period of time will be needed for staff and animals to adapt to housing lactating sows and their piglets in farrowing pens (as opposed to crates) before achieving stable welfare outcomes. The panel recommends a minimum available space to the lactating sow to ensure piglet welfare (measured by live-born piglet mortality). Among the main risk factors for tail biting are space allowance, types of flooring, air quality, health status and diet composition, while weaning age was not associated directly with tail biting in later life. The relationship between the availability of space and growth rate, lying behaviour and tail biting in rearing pigs is quantified and presented. Finally, the panel suggests a set of ABMs to use at slaughter for monitoring on-farm welfare of cull sows and rearing pigs.

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Section: Assessment Of General Tors 1 2 Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interpretation: Piglets emit distress vocalisation because separation from the mother is life threatening, especially for young animals. Therefore, the intensity of such vocalisations decreases with increasing age of the piglets (Weary and Fraser, 1997; Weary et al., 1999; Iacobucci et al., 2015).…”

Section: Assessment Of General Tors 1 2 Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Welfare of pigs on farm

Nielsen¹,

Álvarez²,

Bicout³

et al. 2022

EFS2

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“…Although begging calls are innate, competing nestlings and littermates alter the variability of their calls, and at least in some cases, this variability is guided by social and auditory feedback. This includes canonical vocal learning taxa such as songbirds (David, 1988;Ligout et al, 2016;Price et al, 1996;Tuero et al, 2015) and parrots (Stamps et al, 1989) but also taxa with little or no evidence for vocal learning, including cuckoos (Davies et al, 1998), pigeons (Mondloch, 1995), pigs (Iacobucci et al, 2015;Weary and Fraser, 1995), meerkats (Manser and Avey, 2000), and pygmy marmosets (Elowson et al, 1998). In songbirds, nestlings are able to modify their begging calls to more closely match the acoustic structure of their parents' song, the capacity for which is reduced with lesions to the developing song system, suggesting that variable nest begging behavior could represent a prerequisite for the evolution of song learning (Liu et al, 2009).…”

Section: Vocal Variability With and Without Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Modular Approach to Vocal Learning: Disentangling the Diversity of a Complex Behavioral Trait

Wirthlin

Chang

Knörnschild

et al. 2019

Neuron

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Vocal learning is a behavioral trait in which the social and acoustic environment shapes the vocal repertoire of individuals. Over the past century, the study of vocal learning has progressed at the intersection of ecology, physiology, neuroscience, molecular biology, genomics, and evolution. Yet, despite the complexity of this trait, vocal learning is frequently described as a binary trait, with species being classified as either vocal learners or vocal non-learners. As a result, studies have largely focused on a handful of species for which strong evidence for vocal learning exists. Recent studies, however, suggest a continuum in vocal learning capacity across taxa. Here, we further suggest that vocal learning is a multi-component behavioral phenotype comprised of distinct yet interconnected modules. Discretizing the vocal learning phenotype into its constituent modules would facilitate integration of findings across a wider diversity of species, taking advantage of the ways in which each excels in a particular module, or in a specific combination of features. Such comparative studies can improve understanding of the mechanisms and evolutionary origins of vocal learning. We propose an initial set of vocal learning modules supported by behavioral and neurobiological data and highlight the need for diversifying the field in order to disentangle the complexity of the vocal learning phenotype.

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“…Sows called more frequently and calls contained a wider bandwidth in the first REMOVAL. In piglets, a common property of alarm calls is a wider bandwidth ( Iacobucci et al, 2015 ). The change in bandwidth and call number observed in this study could demonstrate a decrease in sow reactivity to piglet REMOVAL and RETURN in the second test.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of farrowing room noise on sows’ reactivity to piglets

Chapel

Radcliffe

Stewart

et al. 2018

Translational Animal Science

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Despite much interest in sow welfare, the impact of the acoustic environment on sow reactivity to her piglets is rarely considered. The objective of this study was to understand the impact of noise produced by mechanical ventilation and other sows on a sow’s reactivity to her piglets. Sows were farrowed in one of three environments: 1) with eight other sows exposed to constant fan noise (GROUP-FAN; n = 10), 2) alone with fan noise present (ISO-FAN; n = 10), and 3) alone without fans running (ISO-QUIET; n = 10). Sows were subjected for 5 min to a piglet removal event (REMOVAL) by an unknown handler twice, at 24 and 48 h postfarrowing. During a REMOVAL, sows were observed via video recording for changes in posture, eating and drinking behavior, and head orientation. Audio was recorded to quantify vocalizations by the sow. Once piglets were returned, sows underwent further behavior observations for 10 min (RETURN), resulting in approximately 15 min of total video observation. Sows were classified as young (second and third parity) and old (fifth parity and older). The YOUNG sows tended to be more Alert (looking toward the handler or their piglets) during REMOVE than OLD sows (P = 0.07; 2.01 and 1.33, respectively). The ISO-FAN sows vocalized the loudest during REMOVAL (P < 0.001) with ISO-QUIET sows performing the quietest vocalizations (GROUP-FAN: 72.22 ± 1.06 dB; ISO-FAN: 73.61 ± 1.07 dB; ISO-QUIET: 67.41 ± 0.99 dB). During RETURN, YOUNG sows spent more time sitting than OLD sows (P < 0.01; 7.48 ± 1.6% and 0.91 ± 1.8%, respectively). The ISO-QUIET sows tended to have more posture changes during the RETURN with ISO-FAN having the least changes (P = 0.06; GROUP-FAN: 1.23 ± 0.4; ISO-FAN: 0.44 ± 0.3; ISO-QUIET: 1.61 ± 0.4). Finally, sows decreased the amount of time Alert in the second RETURN (P = 0.03; first: 3.9 ± 0.6%; second: 2.5 ± 0.6%). Overall, sows acclimated to the removal and return events with decreased vocalizations and decreased Alert behaviors in the second REMOVAL and RETURN. Additionally, YOUNG sows performed more active behaviors than OLD sows, indicating that sows may become less interested in or cannot hear their piglets as they age. Finally, there is some indication that ventilation presence has an effect on sow–piglet communication with ISO-FAN sows having the loudest vocalizations when compared with sows without ventilation noise, indicating that ventilation noise may be a possible competitor with a sow’s ability to communicate with her piglets.

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Piglets call for maternal attention: Vocal behaviour in Sus scrofa domesticus is modulated by mother's proximity

Cited by 7 publications

References 46 publications

Welfare of pigs on farm

Welfare of pigs on farm

A Modular Approach to Vocal Learning: Disentangling the Diversity of a Complex Behavioral Trait

The impact of farrowing room noise on sows’ reactivity to piglets

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