Vermeer Herman M, Dirx-Kuijken Nienke C P M M, Bracke Marc B M
Wageningen Livestock Research, P.O. Box 338, Wageningen 6700 AH, The Netherlands.
Animals (Basel). 2017 Apr 29;7(5):36. doi: 10.3390/ani7050036.
Lack of environmental enrichment and high stocking densities in growing-finishing pigs can lead to adverse social behaviors directed to pen mates, resulting in skin lesions, lameness, and tail biting. The objective of the study was to improve animal welfare and prevent biting behavior in an experiment with a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design on exploration feeding, stocking density, and sex. We kept 550 pigs in 69 pens from 63 days to 171 days of life. Pigs were supplemented with or without exploration feeding, kept in groups of seven (1.0 m²/pig) or nine animals (0.8 m²/pig) and separated per sex. Exploration feeding provided small amounts of feed periodically on the solid floor. Skin lesion scores were significantly lower in pens with exploration feeding ( = 0.028, < 0.001, < 0.001 for front, middle, and hind body), in pens with high compared to low space allowance ( = 0.005, = 0.006, < 0.001 for front, middle and hind body), and in pens with females compared to males ( < 0.001, = 0.005, < 0.001 for front, middle and hind body). Males with exploration feeding had fewer front skin lesions than females with exploration feeding ( = 0.022). Pigs with 1.0 m² compared to 0.8 m² per pig had a higher daily gain of 27 g per pig per day ( = 0.04) and males compared to females had a higher daily gain of 39 g per pig per day ( = 0.01). These results indicate that exploration feeding might contribute to the development of a more welfare-friendly pig husbandry with intact tails in the near future.
生长育肥猪缺乏环境丰富度和高饲养密度会导致对圈舍同伴产生不良社会行为，从而导致皮肤损伤、跛行和咬尾。本研究的目的是在一项关于探索性饲喂、饲养密度和性别的2×2×2析因设计实验中改善动物福利并预防咬尾行为。我们在猪63日龄至171日龄期间，将550头猪饲养在69个猪栏中。给猪补充或不补充探索性饲喂，按每组7头（每头猪1.0平方米）或9头（每头猪0.8平方米）分组饲养，并按性别分开。探索性饲喂是在固体地面上定期提供少量饲料。有探索性饲喂的猪栏中皮肤损伤评分显著更低（前躯、中躯和后躯分别为P = 0.028、P < 0.001、P < 0.001），空间充裕度高的猪栏与空间充裕度低的猪栏相比（前躯、中躯和后躯分别为P = 0.005、P = 0.006、P < 0.001），以及饲养母猪的猪栏与饲养公猪的猪栏相比（前躯、中躯和后躯分别为P < 0.001、P = 0.005、P < 0.001）。接受探索性饲喂的公猪前躯皮肤损伤比接受探索性饲喂的母猪少（P = 0.022）。每头猪1.0平方米空间的猪比每头猪0.8平方米空间的猪日增重高27克/天（P = 0.04），公猪比母猪日增重高39克/天（P = 0.01）。这些结果表明，探索性饲喂可能有助于在不久的将来发展出一种对福利更友好且猪尾巴完整的养猪方式。
