Piglets’ weaning behavioural response is influenced by quality of human–animal interactions during suckling

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the short-term post-weaning behaviour of piglets treated either neutrally or aversively during the suckling period. A total of 24 lactating sows and their litters were housed in different rooms according to treatment. A female experimenter (P1) was in charge of feeding and cleaning from days 10 to 27 after birth. For the aversive treatment (Aver), P1 was noisy, moved harshly and unpredictably and shouted frequently during routine cleaning of facilities and animal handling. For the neutral treatment (Neut), P1 used a soft tone of voice and was careful during the same routine. At weaning, the avoidance response of piglets to an approaching experimenter in a novel place was assessed in four piglets from each litter. Scores ranged from 1 (experimenter could touch piglet) to 4 (piglet escaped as soon as person moved). The test was repeated twice, with a 1-h interval, with P1, who wore blue trousers and white T-shirt, and a second handler unfamiliar to the piglets (P2, who wore blue coveralls). Thereafter, litters from the same treatment were mixed and housed in separate rooms, balanced for gender and live weight (n 5 12 groups of 4 piglets/treatment). Behaviour time budgets were registered by scan sampling every 2-min, for 4 h per day, for 4 days. Piglets were weighed at birth, at weaning and on day 5. Effects of treatment and handler on responses to the avoidance test were analysed with non-parametric tests and effects of treatment with a mixed model for repeated measures. Avoidance score was higher for Aver than Neut piglets when tested with P1 (P 5 0.04) but not with P2 (P 5 0.8). When piglets' responses to the different handlers were compared within each treatment, no significant differences were found. Frequencies of resting were lower (P , 0.001), whereas escape attempts (P , 0.03), agonistic interactions (P , 0.02) and frequency of presence at feeder (P , 0.001) were higher in the Aver than in the Neut groups. Feed and water intake and weight gain did not differ between treatments. We conclude that 4-week-old piglets can discriminate a handler according to the nature of treatment received during suckling. In addition, piglets treated aversively seem to have more difficulty adapting to weaning than those treated neutrally during the suckling period.

Teat order affects postweaning behaviour in piglets

“…The behavioural response of piglets immediately after weaning, which was characterized by low feed intake and an increase in activityrepresented mainly by escape attempts and less time lying, and an increase in vocalizations -is in accordance with previous studies that concluded that many factors of weaning management underlie the behavioural response to weaning, such as changes in the physical and social environment (HÖTZEL et al, 2011), age at weaning (HÖTZEL et al, 2010) and quality of handling (SOMMAVILLA et al, 2011). Complementing this information, the present study demonstrates that intrinsic factors of individual piglets, associated to teat order, influence this response.…”

Positive human contact on the first day of life alters the piglet's behavioural response to humans and husbandry practices

“…Indeed, Hemsworth et al [20] observed that pigs fed in the presence of humans and positively handled were less fearful of humans, providing evidence of positive conditioning to humans through feeding. It has also been observed that positive handling involving gently patting or stroking pigs [21,22,23], and aversive handling and postural threats to pigs [23,24] early in life may influence the pig's subsequent behavioural responses to humans. Also in poultry, handling very young chickens (1 day-old) reduced the birds' fear of humans [25].…”

4. Husbandry interventions in suckling piglets, painful consequences and mitigation

“…Several studies have looked at the impact of handling and human attitudes towards piglets on later human-animal relationships. For example, Sommavilla et al (2011) showed that an aversive attitude of the caregiver during lactation significantly increases the reactivity of piglets towards humans at weaning and adversely affects their behaviour with penmates for the first two or three days after weaning, with more escape attempts, more fighting and less resting. Indeed, piglets are able to remember aversive or gentle handling for several weeks (Brajon et al, 2015b) or even months (Hemsworth and Barnett 1992) and can discriminate between handlers depending on their previous experience with them (Brajon et al, 2015a).…”