Social status and housing factors affect reproductive performance of pregnant sows in groups

Abstract

Group‐housing systems for pregnant sows are considered a welfare‐promoting alternative to the individual stall. A major concern associated with pregnant sows housed in group pens is increased aggression at mixing and at feeding, which may cause chronic stress among some of the sows in the group due to low feed intake and social stress. Prolonged activation of the stress axis, based on elevated cortisol levels, may inhibit or impair reproductive success via disruption of the reproductive axis. Mixing sows into groups shortly after insemination evokes a stress response, which may affect fertilization and implantation due to sustained, elevated cortisol levels that disrupt reproductive processes. Yet, most studies reported minimal effects of group housing sows during pregnancy on reproduction or cortisol‐related stress response. Differences between housing systems—in terms of group size, floor‐space allowance, feeding system, and genetics—could account for these unexpected results. Indeed, interrupted feed intake, especially in early pregnancy, and sustained aggression in late pregnancy are two unfavorable social stresses that deserve special attention in order to achieve good reproductive performance. Unfortunately, most studies do not consider other factors, such as social rank and parity, which may interactively affect reproductive success and aggressive behavior of sows, especially in group‐pen systems.

Influence of nervous processes on calcium-phosphorus ratio in blood of cows in different seasons

“…Встановлення індивідуальних особливостей вищої нервової діяльності у тварин дозволить глибше зрозуміти кортикальні механізми регуляції різних фізіологічних функцій, що створює передумови цілеспрямованого на них впливу (Proskura et al, 2017). Встановлення типу вищої нервової діяльності дає можливість передбачити не тільки характер індивідуальних реакцій організму окремої тварини, але і прогнозувати її майбутню продуктивність (Einarsson, Brandt, Lundeheim, & Madej, 2008;Samotaev, 2010;Johnson, 2017).…”

Does Maternal Stress Affect the Early Embryonic Microenvironment? Impact of Long-Term Cortisol Stimulation on the Oviduct Epithelium

“…Especially for the study of female reproduction, in comparison to rodents, the pig is more analogous to humans in terms of hormonal status and estrous cycle length, although the pig has an estrous cycle and humans have a menstrual cycle [19]. We know that stressors affect the reproductive performance of female pigs during early pregnancy and that sows are especially susceptible to sustained elevation of cortisol and long-term stress [20,21]. Recently, we established a compartmentalized air-liquid interface (ALI) culture procedure which allows long-term culture of differentiated porcine oviduct epithelial cells (ALI-POEC) [22,23].…”

Improving behavior characteristics and stress indices of gestating sows housed with group housing facility

“…The swine industry still maintains intensive housing systems in many countries. Particularly, individual confinement stall (CON) has merits in reducing labor intensity, aggression, injury, and space requirements for gestating sows [ 1 – 6 ]. However, this method of production is changing worldwide due to animal welfare considerations that are being legalized in some countries including the European Union and parts of the United States.…”

“…Group housing systems, as alternatives to CON, are applied widely and have various shapes [ 6 – 8 ]. These shapes are influenced by group housing conditions such as group size, space allowance, or feeding systems including electronic sow feeders and trickle feeders [ 4 , 5 ].…”