Department of Ethology, Institute of Animal Science, Přatelství 815, 104 00 Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic.
Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 160 21 Praha-Suchdol, Czech Republic.
Animal. 2019 Sep;13(9):2018-2024. doi: 10.1017/S1751731118003750. Epub 2019 Feb 1.
Temporary crating may be a more acceptable housing system for lactating sows than permanent crating and loose-housing because it combines benefits of both systems while reducing some of their limitations. It remains unclear whether nursing and sucking behaviour is influenced after crate opening. The aim of this study was to assess the short- (24 h post-crate opening) and long-term (day 25 postpartum (pp.)) effects of opening the farrowing crate from day 3 pp. to weaning on nursing and suckling behaviour. Sows were crated from 5 days prepartum either to weaning (permanently crated group; n = 14) or 3 days pp. (temporarily crated group; n = 13). Sows and their litters were observed on days 4 and 25. Duration of pre- and post-massages, nursing termination, number of piglets missing milk ejection and number of piglets fighting during pre- and post-massages were scored at 15-s intervals. Nursing success (i.e. with or without milk ejection) was also recorded. Data were analysed using PROC GLM and PROC GENMOD of SAS including housing, litter size and parity as fixed effects. Nursing behaviour did not differ between sows housed in temporary crates and those housed in permanent crates on days 4 and 25 pp., that is, same number of nutritive nursings (NNs), same proportion of non-NNs, same duration of post-massages and same proportion of termination of post-massages. There was only a housing effect on day 25; with sows having longer pre-massages in permanent crates (P < 0.05). Suckling behaviour was overall similar between treatments. There were no differences in the number of piglets attending pre- and post-massages, proportion of piglets fighting during pre-and post-massages and the proportion of piglets missing milk ejection on both days. The only housing effect was found on day 25 during which fewer piglets attended post-massages (P < 0.05) in permanent crates. Sows with larger litters terminated post-massages more often (P < 0.05), allowed shorter post-massages (P < 0.05) on day 4, and had more piglets miss milk ejection on days 4 and 25 (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study showed that housing had a very limited effect on nursing and suckling behaviour. Sow and piglet behaviours were not altered after crate opening (short-term effect) and nursing was to some extent calmer (shorter pre-massages and more piglets attended post-massages) in temporary crates on day 25. Increased litter size impaired nursing and suckling behaviour of sows and piglets independently of the housing system.
临时笼养可能比永久性笼养和散养更能被哺乳期母猪接受，因为它结合了两种系统的优点，同时减少了它们的一些局限性。目前还不清楚在打开笼子后哺乳和吮吸行为是否会受到影响。本研究的目的是评估从产后第 3 天打开分娩笼至断奶对哺乳和吮吸行为的短期（打开笼子后 24 小时）和长期（产后第 25 天）影响。母猪在产前 5 天被关进产仔笼，要么一直关到断奶（永久性笼养组；n = 14），要么在产后第 3 天（临时笼养组；n = 13）。在第 4 天和第 25 天观察母猪及其仔猪。每隔 15 秒记录母猪在按摩前和按摩后的预按摩和后按摩持续时间、哺乳终止、错过奶射的仔猪数量以及在预按摩和后按摩期间打架的仔猪数量。还记录了哺乳成功率（即有无奶射）。使用 SAS 的 PROC GLM 和 PROC GENMOD 进行数据分析，包括住房、仔猪数量和胎次作为固定效应。在第 4 天和第 25 天，临时笼养的母猪与永久性笼养的母猪在哺乳行为上没有差异，即有相同数量的营养性哺乳（NN）、相同比例的非-NN、相同的后按摩持续时间和相同比例的后按摩终止。只有住房有影响；永久性笼养的母猪前按摩时间更长（P < 0.05）。在整个哺乳行为中，处理之间没有差异。在第 4 天和第 25 天，在预按摩和后按摩期间参加的仔猪数量、在预按摩和后按摩期间打架的仔猪比例以及错过奶射的仔猪比例均无差异。唯一的住房影响是在第 25 天，永久性笼养的母猪在后按摩期间参加的仔猪较少（P < 0.05）。产仔较多的母猪在后按摩时更频繁地终止（P < 0.05），第 4 天的后按摩时间更短（P < 0.05），第 4 天和第 25 天错过奶射的仔猪更多（P < 0.05）。总之，这项研究的结果表明，住房对哺乳和吮吸行为的影响非常有限。在打开笼子后的短期影响），母猪和仔猪的行为没有改变，在第 25 天临时笼养的母猪在哺乳时更平静（前按摩时间更短，更多的仔猪参加后按摩）。仔猪数量的增加会损害母猪和仔猪的哺乳和吮吸行为，而与饲养系统无关。
