Activities per year
Abstract
Artificial rearing involves removing piglets from their mother at 7 days of age and feeding them milk replacer until weaning. Early-life rearing conditions can influence piglets’ mental development, as reflected by their emotional state and reactivity. This study compared the post-weaning emotional state and reactivity of pigs which were either sow-reared (SOW) or artificially-reared (ARTIFICIAL) pre-weaning. Behavioural tests (startle test, novel object test, human-animal relationship test and open door test) were conducted one week post-weaning (weaner 1, 34±0.6 day-old), one week after movement to weaner 2 (69±1.2 day-old) and to finisher (100±1.3 day-old) stages. Qualitative Behavioural Assessments (QBA) were conducted on the same days in weaner 2 and finisher stages. QBA descriptors were computed by PCA and all other data were analysed using linear models. ARTIFICIAL pigs were less fearful of human contact in weaner 1 (45.1 ± 8.43 % vs. 81.3 ± 7.89 %) and finisher (25.8 ± 5.19 % vs. 45.7 ± 6.00 %)stages; but there was no difference in the other tests. ARTIFICIAL pigs had a higher QBA score (more positive) than SOW pigs in weaner 2 (54.49 ± 10.102 vs. 17.88 ± 9.94) but not in finisher (70.71 ± 8.860 vs. 52.76 ± 9.735) stage. In conclusion, ARTIFICIAL pigs appeared to have a more positive emotional state transiently post-weaning and a lower fearfulness towards humans, which are likely mediated by their pre-weaning conditions. These data emphasize the need to consider the entire life of the animals to fully evaluate the long-term impacts of a rearing system.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 433-442 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Animal Welfare |
Volume | 28 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Print publication - 1 Nov 2019 |
Keywords
- Affective state
- Animal welfare
- Artificial rearing
- Human-animal relationship
- Pigs
- Qualitative Behavioural Assessment
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Dive into the research topics of 'Artificial rearing affects the emotional state and reactivity of pigs post-weaning'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Activities
- 5 Invited talk
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Is Big Always Bad?
Baxter, E. (Invited speaker)
29 Oct 2021Activity: Talk, evidence or presentation types › Invited talk
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'Free' Farrowing Update: Systems, trials, barriers to uptake, optimisation
Baxter, E. (Keynote speaker)
12 Nov 2020Activity: Talk, evidence or presentation types › Invited talk
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Free farrowing update on system trials and global legislation
Baxter, E. (Keynote speaker)
18 Nov 2020Activity: Talk, evidence or presentation types › Invited talk
Projects
- 1 Finished
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IRELAND: Increasing sow output through implementation of pre-weaning interventions to keep weak piglets alive OPTIPIG
Baxter, E. (PI)
1/10/14 → 29/08/18
Project: Research