Savaging gilts are more restless and more responsive to piglets during the expulsive phase of parturition

Ahlström, Susanna; Jarvis, Suzanne; Lawrence, Alistair B.

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(01)00207-6

Cited by 47 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Sow's restlessness level has been studied through the frequency of postural changes during parturition (Jarvis et al, 1999;Ahlströ m et al, 2002;Thodberg et al, 2002). Fibre, parturition and reproductive performance A greater incidence of piglet crushing is recorded when postural changes are frequent (Weary et al, 1996).…”

Section: --mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Jarvis et al (1999) reported that farrowing sows are generally unresponsive to their piglets during parturition, and suggested that such unresponsiveness could be related to good maternal abilities. Similarly, Ahlströ m et al (2002) showed that the sows that are more responsive towards their piglets through an important level of piglet investigation are more likely to become savaging sows. These authors also suggested that a low responsiveness of the sow may not necessarily reflect poor maternal ability, but may be related to the individual's inability to cope with the farrowing situation.…”

Section: --mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It can result from low attention of the sow towards the piglets, which increases the risk of crushing (Grandinson et al, 2003), or from sow's nervousness combined with aggressiveness and further infanticide. Infanticide can explain up to 25% of piglet losses (Ahlströ m et al, 2002) and was reported especially in primiparous sows (Randall, 1972). Although the few studies conducted on the effects of dietary fibre on parturition progress seem to show beneficial consequences of bulky diets through the reduction of parturition length, the effects on sow reproductive performance are less clear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Dietary fibre for gestating sows: effects on parturition progress, behaviour, litter and sow performance

Guillemet

Hamard

Quesnel

et al. 2007

Animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In pig production, parturition progress is a key event for sow's reproductive performance, evaluated by piglet survival and piglets' performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of feeding a high-fibre (HF) diet during gestation on parturition progress and reproductive performance of sows. Forty-two primiparous sows (Large-White 3 Landrace crossbred) were fed during gestation either a control diet (C diet; 2.40 kg/day, 3.2% crude fibre, in % of dry matter (DM)), or a HF diet (2.80 kg/day, 12.4% crude fibre, in % of DM). All sows received 33 MJ digestible energy per day. Continuous video recordings were done on the parturition day to determine postural changes (standing, sitting, lying) and behavioural activities (nesting behaviour, uterine contractions, restlessness, social behaviour towards piglets) during parturition. Duration of parturition and individual birth intervals were also measured. Piglets' growth was evaluated by weekly weighing from birth until weaning, at 26.5 days of age. Sows were weighed and backfat thickness was measured at mating, on day 105 of gestation, on the 1st day post partum, and at weaning. Durations of parturition and of birth intervals were not affected by the gestation diet and averaged 211 6 12 min and 16.5 6 0.9 min (mean 6 s.e.), respectively. During the parturition progress, the gestation diet did not affect the frequency and the time devoted to postural and behavioural activities. Dietary treatment during gestation did not influence duration of gestation and weaning-to-oestrus interval, as well as litter size, and number of stillborn and weaned piglets. Piglet weight at birth did not differ between gestation dietary treatments but piglets nursed by HF sows showed a 13.5% greater growth rate during the 1st week of life (P , 0.01) and tended to be heavier at weaning (P 5 0.06) compared with C piglets. The HF sows were leaner at the end of gestation (P , 0.05), but variations of sows' weight during gestation and lactation were not affected by the gestation diet. All sows lost the same amount of backfat thickness during lactation. During lactation, the average daily feed intake was not significantly affected by the gestation diet. This study shows that substituting a control diet for a HF diet during gestation has limited effects on farrowing progress and reproductive performance, but improved piglets' growth rate during the 1st week of life and tended to increase their live weight at weaning.

show abstract

Section: --mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: --mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Dietary fibre for gestating sows: effects on parturition progress, behaviour, litter and sow performance

Guillemet

Hamard

Quesnel

et al. 2007

Animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Further work dissociating the effects of space and substrate demonstrated that space restriction per se induced elevated hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) activity which is deemed indicative of physiological stress . There is also evidence that savaging behaviour is more prevalent in animals housed in farrowing crates (Cronin et al, 1996;Jarvis et al, 1998) and savaging sows are more restless and hyper-responsive to their piglets and environment (Ahlströ m et al, 2002) than non-savaging sows. It has been proposed that because the restrictive nature of this environment is inadequate to satisfy nest building, the need to nest build may not be 'switched-off'.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative farrowing systems: design criteria for farrowing systems based on the biological needs of sows and piglets

Baxter

Lawrence

Edwards

2011

Animal

114

112

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The construction of a suitable farrowing environment is a continuing dilemma: the piglet's needs must be matched with those of the sow and the farmer during the main phases that constitute farrowing: nest building, parturition and lactation. Difficulties exist in resolving the various conflicts of interest between and within these three parties (e.g. sow v. farmer: space needed for nest building v. space needed to maximise the amount of farrowing accommodation, or sow v. sow: ensuring the survival of the current litter v. maintaining condition for future litters). Thus, the challenge is to resolve these conflicts and design a system that maximises sow and piglet welfare while maintaining an economically efficient and sustainable enterprise. In order to successfully design a farrowing and lactation environment, it is necessary to consider the biological needs of both the sow and her litter. The natural behaviour of the sow has been well documented and very little variation exists between reports of peri-parturient behaviour observed in extensively kept domestic sows and their wild counterparts. The failure for domestication to significantly alter these behavioural patterns provides evidence that they are biologically significant and that the commercial farrowing environment should attempt to accommodate this behavioural repertoire. In addition, the behavioural needs of the piglets, as well as the physiological needs of both sows and their offspring should be considered. This article aims to review the considerable body of literature detailing the behavioural repertoire of sows and their offspring during the different phases of farrowing, and the accompanying physiological processes. The focus is on identifying biological needs of the animals involved in order to synthesise the appropriate design criteria for farrowing and lactation systems, which should optimise both welfare and animal production.

show abstract

“…Indeed, acute stressors or poor environments can even trigger infanticide [see e.g. Ahlstro¨m et al, 2002, on piglet-savaging by sows]. Individual differences in stress, as assessed by corticosteroid levels, can also predict poor maternal care.…”

Section: Potential Welfare Index Iv: Infant Mortality Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What do population‐level welfare indices suggest about the well‐being of zoo elephants?

Mason

Veasey

2010

Zoo Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To assess zoo elephants' welfare using objective population-level indices, we sought data from zoos and other protected populations (potential ''benchmarks'') on variables affected by poor well-being. Such data were available on fecundity, potential fertility, stillbirths, infant mortality, adult survivorship, and stereotypic behavior. Most of these can also be affected by factors unrelated to well-being; therefore, for each, we analyzed the potential role of these other factors. Population-level comparisons generally indicate poor reproduction, and poor infant and adult survivorship in zoos compared with benchmark populations (with some differences between zoo regions and over time). Stereotypic behavior also occurs in c. 60% of zoo elephants; as the population-level welfare index least open to alternative interpretations, this represents the strongest evidence that well-being is/has been widely compromised. Poor well-being is a parsimonious explanation for the diverse range of population-level effects seen, but to test this hypothesis properly, data are now needed on, for example, potential confounds that can affect these indices (to partition out effects of factors unrelated to well-being), and causes of the observed temporal effects, and differences between species and zoo regions. Regardless of whether such additional data implicate poor well-being, our findings suggest that elephant management has generally been sub-optimal. We also discuss the selection and utilization of benchmark data, as a useful future approach for evaluating such issues. Zoo Biol 29: 256-273, 2010.

show abstract

Savaging gilts are more restless and more responsive to piglets during the expulsive phase of parturition

Cited by 47 publications

References 19 publications

Dietary fibre for gestating sows: effects on parturition progress, behaviour, litter and sow performance

Dietary fibre for gestating sows: effects on parturition progress, behaviour, litter and sow performance

Alternative farrowing systems: design criteria for farrowing systems based on the biological needs of sows and piglets

What do population‐level welfare indices suggest about the well‐being of zoo elephants?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About