The effect of type of rooting material and space allowance on exploration and abnormal behaviour in growing pigs

Jensen, Margit Bak; Studnitz, Merete; Pedersen, Lene Juul

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2010.01.002

Cited by 48 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The first is that another factor, such as the group sex ratio or stocking density which could not be controlled in this experiment, was over-riding the effects of straw provision. Stocking density has often been confounded with the presence of straw in previous work and has been shown to affect the amount of time spent manipulating substrate (Jensen et al, 2010). However in this instance our analysis suggested that neither sex ratios nor stocking density were significantly related to the level of tail-biting seen in the study.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

A longitudinal study of the effects of providing straw at different stages of life on tail-biting and other behaviour in commercially housed pigs

Statham

Green

Mendl

2011

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Tail-biting (TB) is a welfare concern. Recent studies indicate that early provision of straw may help prevent TB, however, many of these studies were carried out on small groups of pigs and may have limited applicability to commercial farms. The effect of providing straw at different stages of life was studied in large groups of pigs (21-39) on a commercial farm. Six replicates of four treatments were used (No Straw (NS), Straw in Finishing (12 weeks of age onwards) (SF), Straw from Weaning (SW), Straw Throughout Life (ST)). Based on previous studies, it was predicted that levels of TB would be lowest in ST and highest in NS. A total of 706 pigs were followed from birth to slaughter, however one replicate (all four groups) was excluded due to circumstances beyond our control. All pigs were housed on solid floors, and shavings were provided in pens without straw. Fresh bedding was provided twice per week. Behaviours were recorded at regular intervals and all tail-biting outbreaks were recorded.The timing of straw provision had limited effect on pigs" behaviour. Before weaning there was no difference in the time spent exploring the substrate between groups with straw and those without. After weaning, the time spent rooting was significantly different between treatments (F (13,16) =3.796, p<0.05) with post-hoc testing indicating that levels were significantly higher in SW than NS but that there was no difference between ST and the other treatments. Of the 20 groups, fourteen had tail-biting outbreaks (NS=3, SF=2, SW=4, ST=5), eight of these were classed as severe (NS=2, SF=0, SW=1, ST=3). Provision of straw did not have a significant effect on the distribution of tail-biting outbreaks (p = 0.336).This unexpected finding was not explained by other variables (e.g. stocking density). It may have been related to the finding that straw provision did not increase the amount of rooting as expected, perhaps because the provision of solid floors and shavings allowed rooting in non-straw treatments. Most TB was seen in the finishing pigs where straw levels increased for SF but declined for ST and SW relative to earlier in life due to the farm"s management practice. The levels of tail-biting were higher than expected in ST / SW and lower than expected in SF, suggesting that the novelty of straw for SF might have decreased the risk of TB whilst the decline in straw provision for ST/SW might have increased the risk.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

A longitudinal study of the effects of providing straw at different stages of life on tail-biting and other behaviour in commercially housed pigs

Statham

Green

Mendl

2011

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…A decreased activity to age was in agreement with findings of Jensen et al (2010) (~40 and 90 LW) and van de Weerd et al (2005). In the current study, percentage of active time spent on straw-directed behaviour decreased from 33.8% to 26.2% from 40 to 80 kg LW.…”

supporting

confidence: 92%

“…However, the decrease in straw-directed behaviour could also more likely be related to the increased stocking density, as pigs may have had difficulties approaching the straw due to limited space. Jensen et al (2010) observed that in pens with a space allowance of 0.64 m 2 /pig, a significantly lower percentage of pigs manipulated rooting material than in pens with a high space allowance of 1.0 m 2 /pig. More pigs may have been able to manipulate the material at the same time when there were lower stocking densities in pens (Jensen et al, 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Jensen et al (2010) observed that in pens with a space allowance of 0.64 m 2 /pig, a significantly lower percentage of pigs manipulated rooting material than in pens with a high space allowance of 1.0 m 2 /pig. More pigs may have been able to manipulate the material at the same time when there were lower stocking densities in pens (Jensen et al, 2010). In addition, the decrease in straw-directed behaviour according to increased weight of the pigs may also be attributed to a presumable reduction of amount of straw available in the pens.…”

mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Day et al (2002), showed that aggression, ear chewing, biting, belly nosing and tail biting were reduced when pigs were provided with 92 g straw/pig per day compared with no straw, though these behaviours were not reduced significantly when pigs were provided with 1092 g straw/pig per day. As the interval of amounts between 0 and 92 g straw/pig per day were not studied further by Day et al (2002), the first aim of this study was partly to examine the level of penmate-directed behaviour when pigs were provided with 25 and 50 g straw/pig per day compared with 100 g. A study by Jensen et al (2010) showed that 90 g straw/pig per day was enough to assure 45 to 90 kg pigs of permanent access to straw in pens with partly slatted floors, but they also found that penmate-directed behaviour increased readily to the daily straw provision, implying that the residual straw had become unattractive to the pigs and could not occupy them as well as fresh straw. Pigs are curious animals (Studnitz et al, 2007) and they actively search for novel stimuli (Stolba and Wood-Gush, 1980;Day et al, 1995), which is why Fraser et al (1991) and Moinard et al (2003) suggested that novelty of the occupational material was important to pigs and that the novelty of a material could be increased by renewing the material regularly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behaviour of liquid-fed growing pigs provided with straw in various amounts and frequencies

Oxholm

Steinmetz

Lahrmann

et al. 2014

Animal

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Straw possesses many characteristics that make it attractive to pigs and can therefore be effective in preventing negative penmate-directed behaviours. However, straw is difficult to handle in current vacuum slurry systems under most commercial conditions and can therefore only be used in limited amounts. To occupy pigs effectively, straw must remain attractive to pigs throughout the whole day; hence, have a certain degree of novelty. We investigated the penmate-directed behaviour of liquid-fed growing pigs in a production herd, assigned to five experimental treatments: 1 × 25, 1 × 50, 1 × 100, 2 × 50 and 4 × 25 g of chopped straw/pig per day, with 20 replicates of each treatment (pen was regarded as experimental unit). Behaviour was observed at two different growth stages;~40 and 80 kg live weight of the pigs. Activity and exploratory behaviour directed at penmates, straw, pen components and the slatted floor were registered continuously for 15 min of each hour during day time (0600 to 2200 h) by use of video observation of three focal pigs per pen. The pigs were active for about one-third of the day corresponding to~5 h/day. Of the active time, an average of 7% (35 min) was spent on penmate-directed behaviour. The pigs were more active and increased their straw-directed behaviour when provided with 100 g straw/pig per day compared with 25 and 50 g ( P < 0.001). However, penmate-directed behaviour was not reduced with an increased amount of straw ( P > 0.05), and there was no effect on pigs' behaviour when straw provision was increased per day ( P > 0.05). Pigs became less active and reduced their straw-directed activities when their weight increased from 40 to 80 kg live weight ( P < 0.001), but the amount of penmate-directed behaviour was similar ( P > 0.05). Further, the residual straw results indicated that perhaps a more frequent straw provision could help establish a more even level of fresh available straw during the day. However, the frequent straw provision did not occupy pigs more than one daily allocation did. In conclusion, there was no difference in penmate-directed behaviour of the pigs when given 25 or 50 g of straw/pig per day compared with 100 g of straw/pig per day, nor were there any difference when 100 g of straw/pig per day was provided more frequently.

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Health and welfare in organic livestock production systems—a systematic mapping of current knowledge

et al. 2020

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This review aimed to systematically map and summarize the status of animal health and welfare in organic production. The prevalence of diseases and behavioural effects in organic dairy cow, beef cattle, sheep, pig, laying hen and broiler chicken were discussed in the context of the organic values and current knowledge on animal health and welfare. In total 166 peer-reviewed scientific publications between 2008 and 2020 were included. No strong evidence for neither inferior nor distinctly higher animal welfare in organic compared with conventional production could be supported. The welfare status of organic livestock is in general good in relation to the OIE definition of animal health and welfare. However, organic systems are still facing several challenges related to animal health and the arising of goal conflicts due to management and practical implications. Greater possibilities to perform species-specific behaviours in organic production systems, however, indicate that the organic standards offer a good framework for high animal welfare management. For organic dairy farmers, the main health problems are similar to those of non-organic farms; especially mastitis and lameness need improvement. Parasites, together with mastitis and lamb mortality, are important welfare issues in organic sheep production. Piglet mortality, leg problems, parasite load and increasing respiratory problems are of major relevance in organic pig production. For organic laying hens, major health challenges relate to feather pecking and cannibalism, parasites and possibilities to express species-specific behaviours. For organic broilers, dermatitis of footpads, hocks and breast are reported as main health issues.

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The effect of type of rooting material and space allowance on exploration and abnormal behaviour in growing pigs

Cited by 48 publications

References 19 publications

A longitudinal study of the effects of providing straw at different stages of life on tail-biting and other behaviour in commercially housed pigs

A longitudinal study of the effects of providing straw at different stages of life on tail-biting and other behaviour in commercially housed pigs

Behaviour of liquid-fed growing pigs provided with straw in various amounts and frequencies

Health and welfare in organic livestock production systems—a systematic mapping of current knowledge

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