Geverink N A, Heetkamp M J W, Schouten W G P, Wiegant V M, Schrama J W
Ethology Group, Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands.
J Anim Sci. 2004 Apr;82(4):1227-33. doi: 10.2527/2004.8241227x.
The behavioral response of piglets in a backtest early in life seems indicative of their coping strategy at a later age. Coping characteristics may depend on the interaction between backtest classification and housing conditions. We studied whether growth rate and partitioning of energy in adult gilts were related to response in the backtest early in life, and to housing in groups or individual stalls. During the suckling period, female piglets were subjected to the backtest. Each piglet was restrained on its back for 1 min, and the number of escape attempts was scored. Thirty-six high-resisting gilts and 36 low-resisting gilts were selected. After weaning, pigs were housed in 12 groups of six (three high-resisting and three low-resisting). From 7 mo of age onward, 36 gilts out of six groups were housed in individual stalls, whereas the other gilts remained group housed. At 13 mo of age, gilts were housed in clusters of three (three high-resisting or three low-resisting) for an experimental period of 7 d in climatic respiration chambers. Group-housed gilts were loose housed, and stall-housed gilts were housed in stalls within the chamber. Despite the fact that high-resisting and low-resisting gilts did not differ (P = 0.269) in initial BW, low-resisting gilts showed a higher (P = 0.039) ADG during the experimental period in association with a higher (P = 0.043) energy metabolizability. This suggests that, in line with the theory on coping strategies, high-resisting gilts may have more difficulties in adapting to a change in environment, (i.e., the change from home pen to climatic chamber). Group- and stall-housed gilts differed (P = 0.001) in initial BW, with group-housed gilts being heavier. During the experimental period, stall-housed gilts showed lower energy metabolizability (P = 0.001), lower energy retention (P = 0.001), and a higher energy requirement for maintenance (P = 0.001) due to a higher activity-related heat production (P = 0.001). This finding suggests that stall housing might have a negative influence on performance and partitioning of energy when animals are adapting to a change in their environment.
仔猪在生命早期进行的回测中的行为反应似乎预示着它们在后期的应对策略。应对特征可能取决于回测分类与饲养条件之间的相互作用。我们研究了成年后备母猪的生长速度和能量分配是否与生命早期回测中的反应以及群体饲养或个体栏舍饲养有关。在哺乳期，对雌性仔猪进行回测。将每头仔猪仰卧约束1分钟，并记录逃脱尝试的次数。挑选出36头高抵抗性后备母猪和36头低抵抗性后备母猪。断奶后，猪被分成12组，每组6头（3头高抵抗性和3头低抵抗性）。从7月龄开始，6组中的36头后备母猪被安置在个体栏舍中，而其他后备母猪仍为群体饲养。在13月龄时，将后备母猪按每组3头（3头高抵抗性或3头低抵抗性）成群安置在气候呼吸室内，为期7天进行实验。群体饲养的后备母猪为散养，栏舍饲养的后备母猪被安置在室内的栏舍中。尽管高抵抗性和低抵抗性后备母猪的初始体重没有差异（P = 0.269），但低抵抗性后备母猪在实验期内的平均日增重较高（P = 0.039），且能量代谢率较高（P = 0.043）。这表明，与应对策略理论一致，高抵抗性后备母猪在适应环境变化（即从家猪舍到气候室的变化）时可能会遇到更多困难。群体饲养和栏舍饲养的后备母猪在初始体重上存在差异（P = 0.001），群体饲养的后备母猪更重。在实验期内，栏舍饲养的后备母猪能量代谢率较低（P = 0.001），能量保留较低（P = 0.001），维持所需能量较高（P = 0.001），这是由于与活动相关的产热较高（P = 0.001）。这一发现表明，当动物适应环境变化时，栏舍饲养可能会对其性能和能量分配产生负面影响。
