The behaviour, welfare, growth performance and meat quality of pigs housed in a deep-litter, large group housing system compared to a conventional confinement system

Morrison, Rebecca; Johnston, Lee J; Hilbrands, A. M.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2006.04.002

Cited by 73 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The time-budget analysis indicates that most time was spent in resting behaviour in both lines and sexes, and that active behaviour essentially concerned the feeding and investigative activities, in agreement with time budgets classically reported in literature for pigs (Morrison et al, 2007). The nycthemeral profile of behaviours also showed higher active behaviours during the diurnal period, in accordance with literature on the feeding patterns measured in controlled light and temperature conditions (De Haer and Merks, 1992;Labroue et al, 1994).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Divergent selection for residual feed intake in group-housed growing pigs: characteristics of physical and behavioural activity according to line and sex

Meunier-Salaün

Guérin

Billon³

et al. 2014

Animal

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The aim of the study was to assess the impact of selection for residual feed intake (RFI) on the behavioural activity of lines divergently selected for RFI during seven generations. In all, six successive batches from the seventh generation of selection were raised in collective pens equipped with a single-place electronic feeder (SEF) from 10 weeks of age to 100 kg BW. Each batch included four groups of 12 pigs: high RFI (RFI + ) castrated males, RFI + females, low RFI (RFI − ) castrated males, RFI − females. At 17 weeks of age, health criteria were evaluated using a gradient scale for increased severity of lameness, body lesions, bursae and tail biting. Individual behavioural activities were recorded by 24-h video tape on the day after health evaluation. The investigative motivation towards unfamiliar objects was quantified at 18 weeks of age. The daily individual feeding patterns were computed from SEF records during the 4 weeks surrounding 12, 17 and 22 weeks of age. All pigs spent significantly most of their time lying in diurnal (80% of total scan) and nocturnal (>89%) periods. The RFI − pigs showed a lower proportion of health problems ( P < 0.01) than RFI + pigs. The RFI − pigs used the SEF less than the RFI + pigs, in diurnal (5.3% v. 6.4% of video scans, P < 0.05) and nocturnal periods (3.6% v. 4.5% of video scans, P < 0.05). This was confirmed by a significantly lower daily number and duration of visits to the SEF computed from the SEF data. The feeding activity measured from the video recording was significantly correlated ( R > 0.34; P < 0.05) with feeding patterns computed from the SEF. The RFI − pigs spent less time standing over the 24-h period (9.7% v. 12.2% of scans, i.e. 35 min/day, P < 0.05). In terms of energy costs, this amounted to 14% of the line difference in terms of daily metabolizable energy intake. The castrated males used the SEF more than females, especially at night (4.7% v. 3.4% of total scans, P < 0.05), whereas females displayed greater investigation of their environment (7.7 ± 0.3% v. 6.6 ± 0.2% of total scans, P < 0.05) and the novel objects (10.7% v. 4.9% of total scans, P < 0.05). In conclusion, the lower physical activity associated with reduced energy expenditure in RFI − pigs compared with RFI + pigs contributed significantly to their improved efficiency and was not related to worsened health scores.Keywords: pig, genetic, residual feed intake, physical activity, behaviour ImplicationsSelection for reduced residual feed intake (RFI) to improve the feed efficiency of pigs diminishes daily feed intake. In this study, physical activity is also reduced, and the energy saving associated with the lower physical activity in the low RFI pigs explains 14% of the feed intake difference between two lines divergently selected for RFI, significantly contributing to the better feed efficiency of the low RFI pigs. This highlights the potential of phenotyping physical activity in pigs to better quantify energy expenditure, together with the impact of improved efficiency on animal behavi...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Divergent selection for residual feed intake in group-housed growing pigs: characteristics of physical and behavioural activity according to line and sex

Meunier-Salaün

Guérin

Billon³

et al. 2014

Animal

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“…Regarding the corticotropic axis activity, pigs had higher salivary cortisol levels in the C pens than in the E pens. Such an effect on salivary cortisol is in agreement with results from de Leeuw and Ekkel (2004) but in contradiction with those from de Jong et al (1998) andde Groot et al (2000), showing higher levels of salivary cortisol in pigs reared in the E environment or with results from Morrison et al (2007) showing no difference between housing environments. In a previous study comparing pigs reared in the same E and C environments as described here, similar levels of urinary cortisol were also found in both environments (Lebret et al, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…Second, rearing in an E environment from birth until 7 weeks of age seems to increase salivary cortisol secretion during daytime compared with rearing in a barren environment (Munsterhjelm et al, 2010). Our pigs and those from de Leeuw and Ekkel (2004), Morrison et al (2007) and Lebret et al (2011) were reared in a C system during early life contrarily to those from de Jong et al (1998) andde Groot et al (2000) who were placed in an E system from birth. Third, in this study, social competition was higher in the barren than in the E environment as shown by the score lesions, and social stress is known to increase salivary concentrations of cortisol in pigs (Coutellier et al, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Health and immune traits of Basque and Large White pigs housed in a conventional or enriched environment

Merlot

Vincent

Thomas

et al. 2012

Animal

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Since decades, production traits such as growth rate, feed efficiency or body composition have been drastically increased in pigs by genetic selection. Whether this selection impacted animal robustness is still unclear. In this study, we compared Large White (LW) pigs, a breed submitted to intense genetic selection for production traits, and Basque (B) pigs, a local rustic breed, reared in two different housing environments (conventionalv.enriched). Adaptation to housing conditions among each breed was evaluated at the level of endocrine and immune traits. These are known to be impacted by housing conditions and breed; however, the interaction effects between genotype and environment are less described. Animals (20 per breed and housing environment) entered the experiment at 35 kg of live weight. Levels of cortisol, acute-phase inflammatory proteins, immunoglobulins and hydrogen peroxide, blood formula, lymphocyte proliferation andin-vitrocytokine expression were measured at ∼115 kg of live weight. Animals were checked for skin injuries during the growing period. At slaughter, at the average live weight of 145 kg, carcasses were examined for pathological conditions of the respiratory tract. The major result was that the two breeds exhibited differences in response to the housing environment. Among the 24 sanitary, endocrine or immune traits investigated, the housing conditions affected eight variables in both breeds (salivary cortisol at 0700 and 1900 h, severity of pneumonia at slaughter) or only in B pigs (severe skin lesions) or LW pigs (salivary cortisol at 1500 h, granulocyte numbers and lymphocyte/granulocyte ratio and lymphocyte proliferation). These observations strengthen the hypothesis that selection for high meat production level might be associated with an increased susceptibility of animals to environmental stressors.

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“…The reduction of back fat deposition in outdoor systems can be a consequence of exercise, as Enfält et al (1997) and Gnanaraj et al (2002) reported, although other authors did not find any difference in fat deposition between systems with outdoor access (Daza et al, 2009;Hale et al, 1986;Morrison et al, 2007). Low lightness of the meat is a desirable characteristic for reducing paleness of meat, and OUT presented lower values than IN, which is in accordance with Pugliese et al (2005).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

“…In this week, several days of cold and hard wind affected outdoor animals, causing a deficient growing response. Long exposures to cold temperatures cause pigs to adapt by reducing energy losses and adjusting intake (Demo et al, 1995;Macari et al, 1986), but when low temperatures occur suddenly or cyclically, animals are more severely affected (Nienaber et al, 1989;Geers et al, 1987). Moreover, higher consumption levels and consequently higher conversion rate reached in OUT could compromise profit of this system and should be studied accurately.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of extensive and intensive pig production systems in Uruguay in terms of ethologic, physiologic and meat quality parameters

et al. 2013

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-The objective of this work is to characterize two contrasting systems of fattening pigs in Uruguay. A total of 96 pigs (average 41.7 kg) were divided into eight groups of 12 animals, representing two production systems: (IN) pigs confined in pens of 12 m 2 or (OUT) kept in plots with field shelters and access to pasture. Behavioral observations were performed by scan sampling at 5-minute intervals, three times a day during weeks 6, 8, 10 and 12 of the experiment. Aggressions were also observed at the end of the experimental period. Blood samples were taken for cortisol analysis and other physiological parameters, during growth period and slaughter and meat quality characteristics were assessed after slaughter. Differences were found in carcass characteristics, wherein IN presented a higher dorsal fat. These animals presented an overall lower activity and spent less time resting, with a stable pattern throughout the day. In OUT, pigs usually rested at midday hours, more active in the morning and afternoon. The number of total reciprocal aggressions in the observation period was 4.2±3.7 for IN and 2.3±2.2 for OUT. Cortisol levels and biochemical profile did not show evidence of important problems in the animals. Welfare is not compromised in any of the systems, although higher levels of cortisol and aggressions could be indicating some stress problems in the confinement system. Meat characteristics in OUT were considered better than in IN from a nutritional point of view.

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The behaviour, welfare, growth performance and meat quality of pigs housed in a deep-litter, large group housing system compared to a conventional confinement system

Cited by 73 publications

References 34 publications

Divergent selection for residual feed intake in group-housed growing pigs: characteristics of physical and behavioural activity according to line and sex

Divergent selection for residual feed intake in group-housed growing pigs: characteristics of physical and behavioural activity according to line and sex

Health and immune traits of Basque and Large White pigs housed in a conventional or enriched environment

Comparison of extensive and intensive pig production systems in Uruguay in terms of ethologic, physiologic and meat quality parameters

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