Zhang Xiaojun, Li Congcong, Hao Yue, Gu Xianhong
State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
Animals (Basel). 2020 Feb 18;10(2):320. doi: 10.3390/ani10020320.
We investigated the effect of different farrowing systems on the behavior of sows and piglets. In total, 22 hybrid sows (Yorkshire × Landrace) were randomly assigned into three farrowing systems, farrowing crate (FC), free farrowing pen with sloping walls (FFS), and free farrowing pen with sloping walls and nest materials (FFSN). The FFS and FFSN sows were more active, and exhibited less abnormal behaviors compared with the FC sows before and after parturition. FFS and FFSN piglets were more active compared with FC piglets. The increased activity of the FFS and FFSN sows might encourage the activity of their piglets, resulting in more proximity to sow behavior of their piglets. Providing nest materials improved the investigative behavior of sows and piglets. The total mortality of piglets in the free farrowing systems tended to be higher compared with the farrowing crate system. In conclusion, free farrowing system has beneficial effects on the behavior of sows and piglets but extra care in management needs to be taken to avoid piglet loss. Adding nest material in the farrowing pens is suggested to enrich the behavioral pattern of sows and piglets.
我们研究了不同分娩系统对母猪和仔猪行为的影响。总共22头杂交母猪（约克夏×长白）被随机分配到三种分娩系统中，即产仔箱（FC）、带有倾斜墙壁的自由分娩栏（FFS）和带有倾斜墙壁及垫料的自由分娩栏（FFSN）。与产仔箱母猪相比，FFS和FFSN母猪在分娩前后更活跃，且表现出的异常行为更少。与产仔箱仔猪相比，FFS和FFSN仔猪更活跃。FFS和FFSN母猪活动的增加可能会促使其仔猪活动增加，导致仔猪更接近母猪行为。提供垫料改善了母猪和仔猪的探究行为。与产仔箱系统相比，自由分娩系统中仔猪的总死亡率往往更高。总之，自由分娩系统对母猪和仔猪的行为有有益影响，但在管理上需要格外小心以避免仔猪损失。建议在分娩栏中添加垫料以丰富母猪和仔猪的行为模式。
