Productivity, time budgets and social aspects of eating in pigs penned in groups of five or individually

Gonyou, H. W.; Chapple, Richard P.; Frank, Glenn

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(05)80090-5

Cited by 60 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…The authors concluded that this line of mice had developed a more active coping style than the passive style adapted by the control line. Gonyou et al (1992) found that grouphoused grow-finish pigs spent more time standing than their individually housed counterparts. Gonyou et al (1992) hypothesized that standing may be related to avoidance of other pigs and contribute to a reduction in production.…”

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confidence: 98%

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Effects of selection for decreased residual feed intake on composition and quality of fresh pork1

Smith

Gabler

Young

et al. 2011

Journal of Animal Science

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The objectives of this study were to determine the extent to which selection for decreased residual feed intake (RFI) affects pork composition and quality. Pigs from the fifth generation of selection for decreased RFI (select) and a randomly selected line (control) were utilized. Two experiments were conducted. In Exp. 1, barrows (22.6 ± 3.9 kg) from select and control lines were paired based on age and BW. The test was conducted in 8 replicates of pairs for the test period of 6 wk. Calpastatin activity and myosin isoforms profile were determined on samples from the LM. Control barrows were heavier (59.1 vs. 55.0 kg; P < 0.01) at the end of the test period. Calpastatin activity was greater (P < 0.01) in LM of select barrows than control barrows. In Exp. 2, composition and quality of gilts (114 kg) from control and select lines were determined. The model included fixed effects of line, slaughter date, melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) genotype, barn group, line × slaughter date, genotype × line interactions, a covariate of off-test BW, and sire, pen, and litter fitted as random effects. The select line (n = 80) had 0.043 kg less (P < 0.05) RFI per day than the control line (n = 89). Loin quality and composition were determined at 2 d postmortem. Desmin degradation was measured at 2 and 7 d postmortem. Purge, cook loss, sensory traits, and star probe texture were measured at 7 to 10 d postmortem on cooked chops. Residual correlations between RFI and composition and quality traits were calculated. Compared with the control line, carcasses from the select line tended to have less (P = 0.09) backfat, greater (P < 0.05) loin depth, and greater (P < 0.05) fat free lean. Loin chops from the select line had less (P< 0.01) intramuscular lipid content than loin chops from control line. Significant residual correlations between RFI and both tenderness (r = 0.24, P < 0.01) and star probe (r = −0.26, P < 0.01) were identified. Selection for decreased RFI has the potential to improve carcass composition with few effects on pH and water-holding capacity. However, decreased RFI could negatively affect tenderness and texture because of decreased lipid content and decreased postmortem protein degradation. ABSTRACT:The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of selection for improved residual feed intake on behavior, activity, and lesion scores in gilts in their home pen. A total of 192 gilts were used, 96 from a line that had been selected for decreased residual feed intake over 5 generations (LRFI) and 96 from a randomly bred control line. Gilts were housed in 12 pens (16 gilts/pen; 0.82 m 2 /gilt) containing 8 gilts from each line in a conventional grow-finish unit. Twelve hours of video footage were collected on the day of placement and then every 4 wk for 3 more observational periods. Video was scored using a 10-min instantaneous scan sampling technique for 4 postures (standing, lying, sitting, and locomotion) and 1 behavior (at drinker). Categories of active (standing, locomotion, and at drinker) and inact...

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mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Gonyou et al (1992) found that grouphoused grow-finish pigs spent more time standing than their individually housed counterparts. Gonyou et al (1992) hypothesized that standing may be related to avoidance of other pigs and contribute to a reduction in production. In this study, the LRFI line stood less than the CRFI line.…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Effects of selection for decreased residual feed intake on composition and quality of fresh pork1

Smith

Gabler

Young

et al. 2011

Journal of Animal Science

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“…Social factors which have been studied include group size (Kornegay and Notter 1984;Gonyou et al 1992;Gonyou and Stricklin 1996), weight variation (Tindsley and Lean 1984;Gonyou et al 1986;Rushen 1987), variation in aggressiveness (Erhard et al 1996), and number of pigs per litter (Friend et al 1983;Blackshaw et al 1987;Rundgren and Lofquist 1989). Littermates fight little among themselves when moved to a different pen (Friend et al 1983;Rundgren and Lofquist 1989), or when co-mingled with pigs from other litters, but inter-litter agression is intense (Stookey et al 1986).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Behaviour and productivity of pigs in groups composed of disproportionate numbers of littermates

Gonyou¹

1997

Can. J. Anim. Sci.

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Gonyou, H. W. 1997. Behaviour and productivity of pigs in groups composed of disproportionate numbers of littermates. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 77: [205][206][207][208][209]. Forty litters of eight pigs each were paired by age and weight and re-grouped at the beginning of a 12-wk grower/finisher period. Each pair of litters was assigned to two pens, with two pigs from one litter (Minority) and six pigs from the other (Majority) in each pen. Four pairs of litters were removed from the experiment due to loss of pigs from injury or poor health. Agonistic encounters following re-grouping were used to rank each Minority pig and to classify it as being within the Dominant or Subordinate half of the social hierarchy. Minority pigs within a pen tended to obtain similar social ranks (within two ranks in 20 of 30 pens; P < 0.05), but were as likely to be Dominant as Subordinate (11 vs. 9 pairs, respectively). The activity and position of all pigs were sampled once daily, 5 days a week. One Minority pig was designated as the focal pig for these observations. The second Minority pig was more likely to be engaged in the same activity as the focal pig than were Majority pigs (P < 0.01), and would lie closer to the focal pig than would the Majority pigs (P < 0.01). There were no differences in the proportion of Majority and Minority pigs which were removed from the experiment due to injuries, nor in the type of injuries requiring their removal. Examination of all pigs at the mid-point of the study revealed some evidence of injury on the head, ears, shoulders, back, flanks, ramp and tail of 76, 75, 87, 90, 91 and 95% of the pigs, respectively, but no differences between Majority and Minority pigs in location or severity of injuries. Average daily gain for the entire experiment was 775 g d -1 , and did not differ between Majority and Minority pigs during any 2-wk period of the study. It is concluded that littermates continue to associate with each other after re-grouping and that they attain similar social status. However, the litter with the largest number of pigs present does not consistently achieve social dominance or a competitive advantage manifested in improved weight gain. . Pour des raisons de blessures ou de mauvaises santé, quatre paires de portées étaient retirées de l'expérience. La fréquence des rencontres de type agonistique à la suite du réallotement servait à classer chaque porc de minorité selon son appartenance à la fraction dominante ou subordonnée de la hiérarchie sociale. Les porcs minoritaires d'un même enclos manifestaient généralement le même rang social (écart de 2 rangs dans 20 enclos sur 30, P < 0,05), mais ils avaient autant de chance d'être dominants que subordonnés (11 paires contre 9). L'activité et la position de tous les porcs étaient observées une fois par jour, 5 jours par semaine et, pour ces observations, un porc minoritaire était désigné porc cible. L'autre porc minoritaire était plus susceptible de s'adonner à la même occupation que le porc cible que les porcs en majorité (P < 0,01) et aussi de s...

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“…Aggressive and sexual behaviour are often mentioned as the main reason for this. Sexual and aggressive behaviours are substantially lower in gilts and barrows compared with entire male pigs, but still a reduction in DG and DFI of 4% to 5% without effect on FCR is also observed for barrows and gilts in group housing compared with individual housing (Gonyou et al, 1992). According to Gonyou et al (1992), group housed animals avoid eating in paired feeders, which coincides with spending more time standing.…”

Section: Performancementioning

confidence: 95%

“…Sexual and aggressive behaviours are substantially lower in gilts and barrows compared with entire male pigs, but still a reduction in DG and DFI of 4% to 5% without effect on FCR is also observed for barrows and gilts in group housing compared with individual housing (Gonyou et al, 1992). According to Gonyou et al (1992), group housed animals avoid eating in paired feeders, which coincides with spending more time standing. This may indicate that also other social aspects that are not directly related to aggressive or sexual behaviour and are different from aggressive and sexual behaviour may influence eating behaviour.…”

Section: Performancementioning

confidence: 95%

Immunocastrated male pigs: effect of 4 v. 6 weeks time post second injection on performance, carcass quality and meat quality

Aluwé

Degezelle

Depuydt

et al. 2016

animal

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Immunocastration or vaccination against boar taint can be used as alternative for surgical castration of male piglets. The vaccine is administrated twice. After the second vaccination (V2), the pigs behave like barrows instead of boars and their feed intake increases which may result in a lower lean meat percentage. The timing of V2 is therefore crucial to find the right balance between the advantages of entire males and barrows. In this study, we evaluated the effect of time post second injection within the advised time frame (4 v. 6 weeks before slaughter) on behaviour, performance, carcass and meat quality of immunocastrated male pigs. In total, 180 animals (hybrid sow × Piétrain): 60 gilts, 60 male pigs vaccinated 6 weeks before slaughter (IM-6) and 60 male pigs vaccinated 4 weeks before slaughter (IM-4), all slaughtered at comparable slaughter weights. After 20 weeks of age, IM-6 showed more inactive behaviour at the expense of playing and aggressive behaviour. Daily feed intake (DFI), daily gain (DG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) did not differ significantly between IM-6 and IM-4. Gilts had a lower DFI and DG in the late finishing phase and a higher FCR overall compared with both IM groups. Gilts showed a higher lean meat content compared with both IM groups. Earlier vaccination increased dressing percentage, which could partly be explained by the lower weight of the gastrointestinal tract, but not by testes weight. Meat quality traits and palatability did not differ significantly between IM-6 and IM-4. Vaccination of immunocastrates at 6 compared with 4 weeks before slaughter improved the calmness in the stable and the dressing percentage, while maintaining performance and carcass characteristics.

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Productivity, time budgets and social aspects of eating in pigs penned in groups of five or individually

Cited by 60 publications

References 7 publications

Effects of selection for decreased residual feed intake on composition and quality of fresh pork1

Effects of selection for decreased residual feed intake on composition and quality of fresh pork1

Behaviour and productivity of pigs in groups composed of disproportionate numbers of littermates

Immunocastrated male pigs: effect of 4 v. 6 weeks time post second injection on performance, carcass quality and meat quality

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