Influence of increased feeding frequency on behavior and integument lesions in growing-finishing restricted-fed pigs1

Hessel, Engel F.; Wülbers-Mindermann, M.; Berg, C. van den; Weghe, Herman F.A. Van den; Algers, Bo

doi:10.2527/2006.8461526x

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Differences are possibly linked to differences in feeding frequency, since both Temple et al ( 17 ) and Kallio et al ( 87 ) identified a higher number of smaller meals per day as a risk factor for tail-biting. In agreement, Hessel et al ( 220 ) found that a higher frequency of daily liquid feeds fed to pigs restrictedly resulted in more competition at feeding than a lower feeding frequency.…”

Section: Common Risk Factors For Poor Health and Damaging Behaviorsupporting

confidence: 67%

The Evidence for a Causal Link Between Disease and Damaging Behavior in Pigs

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Damaging behaviors (DB) such as tail and ear biting are prevalent in pig production and reduce welfare and performance. Anecdotal reports suggest that health challenges increase the risk of tail-biting. The prevalence of tail damage and health problems show high correlations across batches within and between farms. There are many common risk factors for tail-biting and health problems, notably respiratory, enteric and locomotory diseases. These include suboptimal thermal climate, hygiene, stocking density and feed quality. The prevalence of tail damage and health problems also show high correlations across batches within and between farms. However, limited evidence supports two likely causal mechanisms for a direct link between DB and health problems. The first is that generalized poor health (e.g., enzootic pneumonia) on farm poses an increased risk of pigs performing DB. Recent studies indicate a possible causal link between an experimental inflammation and an increase in DB, and suggest a link between cytokines and tail-biting. The negative effects of poor health on the ingestion and processing of nutrients means that immune-stimulated pigs may develop specific nutrient deficiencies, increasing DB. The second causal mechanism involves tail-biting causing poor health. Indirectly, pathogens enter the body via the tail lesion and once infected, systemic spread of infection may occur. This occurs mainly via the venous route targeting the lungs, and to a lesser extent via cerebrospinal fluid and the lymphatic system. In carcasses with tail lesions, there is an increase in lung lesions, abscessation, arthritis and osteomyelitis. There is also evidence for the direct spread of pathogens between biters and victims. In summary, the literature supports the association between poor health and DB, particularly tail-biting. However, there is insufficient evidence to confirm causality in either direction. Nevertheless, the limited evidence is compelling enough to suggest that improvements to management and housing to enhance pig health will reduce DB. In the same way, improvements to housing and management designed to address DB, are likely to result in benefits to pig health. While most of the available literature relates to tail-biting, we suggest that similar mechanisms are responsible for links between health and other DB.

show abstract

Section: Common Risk Factors For Poor Health and Damaging Behaviorsupporting

confidence: 67%

The Evidence for a Causal Link Between Disease and Damaging Behavior in Pigs

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Insufficient servings at each feeding occasion might also have left pigs in the treatment group hungry and created a stressful situation. Indeed, in work already published from this study, Hessel and co-workers [ 17 ] found that smaller servings at every feeding occasion resulted in a more competitive situation as they found that more frequently fed pigs displayed more aggressive actions, achieved higher scores for skin lesions and had a tendency to belly-nose for longer time periods when compared with pigs fed less frequently.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Increasing daily feeding occasions in restricted feeding strategies does not improve performance or well being of fattening pigs

et al. 2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe natural feeding behaviour of the pig is searching for feed by rooting activities throughout the day; self-feeding pigs randomly space their eating and drinking periods throughout the day consuming ten to twelve meals per day. Pigs in conventional fattening pig production are normally fed 2–3 times daily with the feed consumed within 15 minutes. The aim of this study was to determine if more frequent feedings could improve the performance of conventionally kept fattening pigs.MethodsThe experiment was carried out on 360 fattening pigs (27–112 kg live weight), weighed and assigned to pens stratified by weight and sex. Each treatment group consisted of 180 pigs, allocated to 20 pens with nine pigs in each pen. To evaluate how more feeding occasions affects performance and well-being the pigs were divided into two groups and fed three (control group) or nine (treatment group) times daily. The same total amount of liquid feed was fed to each group and the feed ration was correlated to the live weight of the pigs. All weight and slaughter recordings were made individually and recordings of feed consumption were made pen-wise. At slaughter the stomach of each pig was examined for lesions in the pars oesophagea and scored on a scale from 1–6.ResultsFrequent feeding occasions influenced both performance and status of gastric lesions of the pigs adversely. Pigs in the treatment group grew slower compared to pigs in the control group; 697 g/day (± 6.76) versus 804 g/day (± 6.78) (P < 0.001) with no difference in within-pen variation. There was also a lower prevalence of gastric lesions within pigs in the control group (2.4 (± 0.12) compared to 3.0 (± 0.12) (P < 0.01)). There was a positive correlation between gastric lesions in the treatment group and daily weight gain (r = 0.19; P < 0.01).ConclusionIncreased daily feeding occasions among group housed pigs resulted in a poorer daily weight gain and increased mean gastric lesion score as compared with pigs fed three times daily. This may be a consequence of more frequently occurring competition for feed in the treatment group. The present study does not support increased daily feeding occasions in fattening pigs.

show abstract

“…The data are also less varied from pens provided with over 200g of straw which suggests that a larger proportion of the animals were affected more equally to the treatment. As opposed to increased feeding frequencies [19] no effects on manipulating or redirected behaviors were found in this study.…”

Section: Behavior Observationscontrasting

confidence: 36%

The Amount of Straw for Growing-Finishing Pigs Considering the Reduction of Time Spent in Manipulative Behavior

Algers¹

2015

SOJVS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Influence of increased feeding frequency on behavior and integument lesions in growing-finishing restricted-fed pigs1

Cited by 18 publications

References 11 publications

The Evidence for a Causal Link Between Disease and Damaging Behavior in Pigs

The Evidence for a Causal Link Between Disease and Damaging Behavior in Pigs

Increasing daily feeding occasions in restricted feeding strategies does not improve performance or well being of fattening pigs

The Amount of Straw for Growing-Finishing Pigs Considering the Reduction of Time Spent in Manipulative Behavior

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About