Consistency and influence on performance of behavioural differences in Large White and Landrace purebred pigs

Effect of handling on neurotransmitter profile in pig brain according to fear related behaviour

“…In pigs, the TI test has shown to be consistent with other behavioural tests carried out at different ages assessing fear, aggressiveness and behavioural strategies in front of a stressful situation, thus indicating that it may be related to individual personality characteristics [4,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. A positive relationship has been reported between TI scores and lean meat percentage, and a genetic background has been suggested [8,9]. Furthermore, the fear-related behaviour is closely associated with the stress response regulated by the HPA axis [7,16].…”

“…Long duration of TI is generally considered as an indication for high levels of fearfulness associating tonic immobility with emotional components like fear or anxiety [6] and with a fear-related phenotype [7]. In pigs, the TI test has shown to be consistent with other behavioural tests carried out at different ages assessing fear, aggressiveness and behavioural strategies in front of a stressful situation, thus indicating that it may be related to individual personality characteristics [4,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. A positive relationship has been reported between TI scores and lean meat percentage, and a genetic background has been suggested [8,9].…”

“…Piglets were subjected to a TI test adapted from Erhard et al [10] and de Sevilla et al [8]. An experimenter restrained individually each piglet in a dorsal decubitus position using a Vshaped wooden restrain (50 cm long and with an 80º angle).…”

Swine feed efficiency: implications for swine behavior, physiology and welfare

“…are commonly recorded behaviors during this test (Murphy et al, 2014). Sevilla et al, 2009;Jensen, 1994;Lawrence et al, 1991;Lind et al, 2005;Pearce and Paterson, 1993;Ruis et al, 2001;Siegford et al, 2008) Group None None Suddenly introduced…”

“…Novelty has been utilized in studies of pig stress responses to a human approach-(HAT; Gonyou et al, 1986; and novel object test (NOT; de Sevilla et al, 2009).…”