The influence of neonatal environment on piglet play behaviour and post-weaning social and cognitive development

Martin, Jessica; Ison, Sarah H.; Baxter, Emma

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2014.11.022

Cited by 88 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Using a larger sample size may be necessary to rigorously test the treatment effect on cortisol levels. Furthermore, the piglet's hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may not be completely developed by the second day of life [35], and neonatal enrichment in piglets can influence further socio-cognitive ablities with direct or indirect effects on their stress response or emotional states [36,37,38].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive human contact on the first day of life alters the piglet's behavioural response to humans and husbandry practices

Muns

Rault

Hemsworth

2015

Physiology & Behavior

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive human contact on the first day of life alters the piglet's behavioural response to humans and husbandry practices

Muns

Rault

Hemsworth

2015

Physiology & Behavior

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“…These pigs were housed after weaning on a solid concrete floor with straw added at regular intervals. Martin et al (2015) found that housing piglets during lactation in an enriched environment (280% more space plus fresh long-stemmed straw), in comparison to a conventional one, increased the appearance of skin lesions between weaning and 3 days later. However, this did not influence the latency to first fight after weaning nor the occurrence of fighting behaviours during the postweaning period (28 to 56 days of age).…”

Section: Postnatal Effects On Biting Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 96%

Review: Early life predisposing factors for biting in pigs

Prunier

Averós

Dimitrov³

et al. 2020

Animal

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The pig industry faces many animal welfare issues. Among these, biting behaviour has a high incidence. It is indicative of an existing problem in biters and is a source of physical damage and psychological stress for the victims. We categorize this behaviour into aggressive and non-aggressive biting, the latter often being directed towards the tail. This review focusses specifically on predisposing factors in early life, comprising the prenatal and postnatal periods up to weaning, for the expression of aggressive and non-aggressive biting later in life. The influence of personality and coping style has been examined in a few studies. It varies according to these studies and, thus, further evaluation is needed. Regarding the effect of environmental factors, the number of scientific papers is low (less than five papers for most factors). No clear influence of prenatal factors has been identified to date. Aggressive biting is reduced by undernutrition, cross-fostering and socialization before weaning. Non-aggressive biting is increased by undernutrition, social stress due to competition and cross-fostering. These latter three factors are highly dependent on litter size at birth. The use of familiar odours may contribute to reducing biting when pigs are moved from one environment to another by alleviating the level of stress associated with novelty. Even though the current environment in which pigs are expressing biting behaviours is of major importance, the pre-weaning environment should be optimized to reduce the likelihood of this problem.

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“…Several studies have suggested an effect of pre-weaning social environment on aggressive behaviour and hierarchy formation of weaned pigs (e.g. Bohnenkamp et al 2013 ; D’Eath 2005 ; Kanaan et al 2012 ; Kutzer et al 2009 ; Li and Wang 2011 ; Martin et al 2015 ; Parratt et al 2006 ; Verdon et al 2016 ). De Jonge et al ( 1996 ) specifically looked at dominance relationships among pigs raised in MS housing and found that submissive pigs hardly displayed aggression towards their dominant pen mate in a post-weaning feed competition test, whereas submissive pigs from barren housing frequently retaliated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-weaning social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a complex multi-suckling group housing system or in a conventional system with a crated sow

et al. 2017

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We studied the social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a conventional system with a sow in a farrowing crate (FC) or in a multi-suckling (MS) system in which 5 sows and their piglets could interact in a more physically enriched and spacious environment. After weaning at 4 weeks of age, 8 groups of 4 litter-mates per pre-weaning housing treatment were studied under equal and enriched post-weaning housing conditions. From each pen, one pair consisting of a dominant and a submissive pig was selected, based on a feed competition test (FCT) 2 weeks post-weaning. This pair was used in an informed forager test (IFT) which measured aspects of spatial learning and foraging strategies in a competitive context. During individual training, submissive (informed) pigs learned to remember a bait location in a testing arena with 8 buckets (the same bucket was baited in a search visit and a subsequent relocation visit), whereas dominant (non-informed) pigs always found the bait in a random bucket (search visits only). After learning their task, the informed pigs’ individual search visit was followed by a pairwise relocation visit in which they were accompanied by the non-informed pig. Effects of pre-weaning housing treatment were not distinctly present regarding the occurrence of aggression in the FCT and the learning performance during individual training in the IFT. During paired visits, informed and non-informed pigs changed their behaviour in response to being tested pairwise instead of individually, but MS and FC pigs showed few distinct behavioural differences.

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The influence of neonatal environment on piglet play behaviour and post-weaning social and cognitive development

Cited by 88 publications

References 43 publications

Positive human contact on the first day of life alters the piglet's behavioural response to humans and husbandry practices

Positive human contact on the first day of life alters the piglet's behavioural response to humans and husbandry practices

Review: Early life predisposing factors for biting in pigs

Post-weaning social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a complex multi-suckling group housing system or in a conventional system with a crated sow

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