Animal Welfare Science Centre, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Rivalea Australia, Corowa, Australia.
J Anim Sci. 2020 Mar 1;98(3). doi: 10.1093/jas/skaa037.
Transferring sows and their litters to group lactation (GL) after an initial period of farrowing crate (FC) housing could enhance the viability of GL for commercial production. Group lactation from 7 d postpartum would reduce the time sows spend in confinement, but the effects of early mixing on animal welfare and productivity require examination. Two experiments were conducted on sows and piglets kept in GL from 7, 10, or 14 d postpartum, compared with FC. Experiment 1 utilized 180 sows and 1,887 piglets over five time replicates (n = 60 sow and litter units per treatment) comparing GL from 7 or 14 d postpartum to FC. In experiment 2, 108 sows and 1,179 piglets were studied over three time replicates (n = 36 sow and litter units per treatment) comparing GL from 10 or 14 d postpartum to FC. All sows farrowed in FC. Group lactation sows were transferred to pens (one pen of five sows at 8.4 m2/sow and one pen of seven sows at 8.1 m2/sow, per GL treatment and replicate) with their litters at 7 (GL7), 10 (GL10), or 14 (GL14) d postpartum. Farrowing crate sows and their litters remained in their FC. Data were collected on sow feed intake and reproduction, piglet mortality (from day 6 postpartum), and sow and piglet weight changes, plasma cortisol concentrations, and injuries. Piglet mortality was greater in the GL7 (17 ± 1.8%) and GL10 treatments (12 ± 0.9%) compared with GL14 (8.3 ± 1.8% P ≤ 0.001 and 8.1 ± 0.9% P ≤ 0.001 in experiments 1 and 2), and greater in GL overall compared with FC (2.7 ± 1.5% and 1.8 ± 0.9% in FC in experiments 1 and 2; P ≤ 0.001). Piglets from GL7 were also lighter at weaning than GL14 piglets (P < 0.001), whereas GL10 and GL14 did not differ (P > 0.05). Overall, piglets in GL were lighter at weaning than piglets in FC (P ≤ 0.01). Sows from GL7 were heavier at weaning (P = 0.001), and GL10 sows tended to be heavier at weaning (P = 0.08), than GL14 and FC sows. Post-mixing, sow cortisol (P ≤ 0.01) and sow and piglet injuries (P ≤ 0.02) were greater in GL than FC. Treatment had no effect on sow feed intake or reproductive performance (P > 0.05). Under the conditions of this research, the known benefits of two-stage GL housing were achieved at a cost particularly to piglets in terms of increased piglet mortality and injuries after mixing, and reduced piglet growth. The risk of piglet mortality decreased with older age at mixing.
将母猪及其仔猪从最初的产仔箱（FC）饲养转移到群体泌乳（GL）饲养后，GL 对商业生产的可行性将得到提高。从产后 7 天开始进行 GL 可以减少母猪的禁闭时间，但早期混合对动物福利和生产力的影响需要进一步研究。本研究对产后 7、10 或 14 天进行 GL 的母猪和仔猪进行了两项实验，同时与 FC 进行了比较。实验 1 使用了 180 头母猪和 1887 头仔猪，进行了五个时间重复（每组处理 60 头母猪和仔猪），比较了产后 7 天或 14 天 GL 与 FC 的差异。在实验 2 中，对 108 头母猪和 1179 头仔猪进行了三个时间重复（每组处理 36 头母猪和仔猪），比较了产后 10 天或 14 天 GL 与 FC 的差异。所有母猪均在 FC 中分娩。产后 7 天（GL7）、10 天（GL10）或 14 天（GL14），GL 母猪及其仔猪被转移到猪栏中（每组 GL 处理和重复有一个 5 头母猪的猪栏和一个 7 头母猪的猪栏，面积为 8.4 平方米/头母猪）。产仔箱母猪及其仔猪仍留在 FC 中。收集了母猪采食量和繁殖、仔猪死亡率（产后第 6 天）以及母猪和仔猪体重变化、血浆皮质醇浓度和损伤的数据。GL7（17 ± 1.8%）和 GL10（12 ± 0.9%）处理的仔猪死亡率高于 GL14（8.3 ± 1.8%，P ≤ 0.001 和 8.1 ± 0.9%，P ≤ 0.001，实验 1 和 2），与 FC（2.7 ± 1.5%和 1.8 ± 0.9%，P ≤ 0.001，实验 1 和 2）相比，GL 总体上的仔猪死亡率更高。GL7 的仔猪断奶时也比 GL14 的仔猪轻（P < 0.001），而 GL10 和 GL14 之间没有差异（P > 0.05）。总体而言，GL 中的仔猪断奶时比 FC 中的仔猪轻（P ≤ 0.01）。GL7 的母猪断奶时体重更重（P = 0.001），GL10 的母猪断奶时体重更重（P = 0.08），GL14 和 FC 的母猪体重更重。混合后，GL 中的母猪皮质醇（P ≤ 0.01）和母猪和仔猪损伤（P ≤ 0.02）高于 FC。处理对母猪采食量或繁殖性能没有影响（P > 0.05）。在本研究的条件下，两阶段 GL 饲养的已知益处是在仔猪死亡率增加和混合后仔猪受伤以及仔猪生长减少的情况下实现的。仔猪死亡率随着混合年龄的增加而降低。
