The effects of weaning at 7, 14 and 28 days on piglet behaviour

Worobec, E.K; Duncan, Ian; Widowski, Tina M.

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(98)00225-1

Cited by 141 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In general, the age difference in the behavioural response of piglets reared in outdoor enclosures at weaning was similar to that reported for conventionally housed pigs Worobec et al, 1999;Colson et al, 2006). It must be pointed out that differences in the piglets' stage of development, which, in the present study, cannot be differentiated from responses to weaning, may explain some differences observed between the treatments.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…In conclusion, the acute behavioural response to weaning observed in piglets reared in an intensive outdoor system is, in general, similar to that described in several studies carried out in conventional confined systems (Bøe, 1993;Gonyou et al, 1998;Weary et al, 1999a;Worobec et al, 1999;Colson et al, 2006). Although weaning appears to be less stressful for piglets in outdoor than in confined systems (Cox and Cooper, 2001;Johnson et al, 2001;Hö tzel et al, 2004), this study shows that age at weaning influences the adaptation of outdoor-reared piglets to weaning, and that a considerable improvement can be achieved from the 3rd to the 4th week after birth.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…feeding behaviour or intake after weaning (Gonyou et al, 1998;Worobec et al, 1999;Main et al, 2004). Low energy intake at weaning is the most important factor affecting small intestine villous height of piglets after weaning (Marion et al, 2002), and has known negative effects on the piglets' metabolism, growth and health (Le Dividich and Sè ve, 2000;Dong and Pluske, 2007), thus being a major welfare issue.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the effects of weaning age on the behaviour (Bøe, 1993;Weary et al, 1999a;Worobec et al, 1999) and physiology (Colson et al, 2006;Poletto et al, 2006;Jarvis et al, 2008;Sumner et al, 2008) of piglets are well documented, no studies on age comparison have been carried out with piglets housed in outdoor systems. Even considering that the stress response to weaning may be reduced by a richer lactation environment, age at weaning may influence the piglets' behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some factors that may underlie the different behavioural responses to weaning in piglets reared in conventional or outdoor systems are the opportunity to contact piglets of other litters during lactation, which decreases fighting after weaning (Pitts et al, 2000;Weary et al, 2002), and the reduction in suckling frequency, which seems to encourage the piglets to explore solid food and spend time away from the sow (Hö tzel et al, 2004). Also, access to a richer physical environment containing pasture, soil or other materials that allow piglets in outdoor environments to express exploratory and ingestive behaviours during lactation (Hö tzel et al, 2004;Leite et al, 2008) may increase feeding behaviour in the immediate post-weaning period, thereby reducing the period of starvation that usually accompanies weaning (Bruininx et al, 2002;Weary et al, 2002).Although the effects of weaning age on the behaviour (Bøe, 1993;Weary et al, 1999a;Worobec et al, 1999) and physiology (Colson et al, 2006;Poletto et al, 2006;Jarvis et al, 2008;Sumner et al, 2008) of piglets are well documented, no studies on age comparison have been carried out with piglets housed in outdoor systems. Even considering that the stress response to weaning may be reduced by a richer lactation environment, age at weaning may influence the piglets' behaviour.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Short-term behavioural effects of weaning age in outdoor-reared piglets

Hötzel

Filho

Irgang

et al. 2010

Animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Age at weaning affects the behaviour of piglets weaned in conventional confined environments. The adaptation of piglets to this event, which exposes piglets to important stressors, has not been examined in detail in outdoor systems. The aim of this study was to compare the behaviour of piglets weaned at 3 or 4 weeks of age in an outdoor production system. Six replicates of four piglets born and raised outdoors, originated from different litters but previously acquainted, were weaned at the age of approximately 20 (D20) or 30 (D30) days in 36 m 2 outdoor pens and offered high-quality diets. Their behaviour was recorded by direct visual observation during four consecutive days after weaning (days 1 to 4). Data were analysed by repeated measures ANOVA. An effect of weaning age was observed on feeding and rooting ( P , 0.01), and a day-by-weaning age interaction for escape attempts, vocalizing, walking and fighting ( P , 0.01), and playing ( P , 0.03). Compared to D30 piglets, D20 piglets showed a higher frequency of escape attempts on day 1, vocalized more during days 1 and 2, and walked more during days 1 to 3 ( P , 0.05). Feeding behaviour, on the other hand, was higher in D30 piglets on days 1 to 3 ( P , 0.05). On days 3 and 4, D30 piglets spent more time interacting with peers (playing and fighting; P , 0.05) and on day 4 were more active than D20 piglets ( P , 0.05). As previously reported in confined environments, age at weaning affected the behaviour of piglets raised on the outdoors system. Weaning appeared to be more stressful for the piglets at 3 than at 4 weeks of age. The impact of weaning age on welfare cannot be ignored, especially when outdoor breeding of pigs is proposed to address welfare concerns of the public.Keywords: pig, housing, social, ingestive, welfare ImplicationsIncreasing the age at weaning from 3 to 4 weeks improves the welfare of piglets reared outdoors by reducing distress behaviours and improving feeding behaviour. This is relevant considering that a key reason for rearing pigs in outdoor environments is to address ethical concerns of consumers regarding the wellbeing of the animals. IntroductionConventional weaning in the pig industry involves exposing young piglets to several concomitant stressors: transfer to a novel environment; separation from the sow and littermates, often mixing with unknown peers; and the loss of the main source of nutrition, i.e. milk. Because this is done without a period of transition necessary to make the solid feed attractive to the piglets, weaning generally is followed by a period of low feed intake (Weary et al., 2008). Additionally, at this age the digestive system of the piglets is not adapted to digest solid feed, which predisposes the young animals to diarrhoea and secondary infections (Dong and Pluske, 2007). In order to overcome this problem, diets especially designed for the digestive system of very young piglets have been formulated (Dritz et al., 1996). However, because the behaviour of piglets weaned at very young ages indicates distress an...

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%