Animal Breeding, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 11, 06120 Halle, Germany.
Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behaviour, University of Veterinary Medicine, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, 30173 Hannover, Germany.
Animal. 2022 Jul;16(7):100559. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2022.100559. Epub 2022 Jun 13.
With the keeping of lactating sows in loose housing systems, ensuring work safety for stockpersons is gaining importance. Aim of the present study was to develop tests characterising the behaviour of lactating sows in farrowing environments with more freedom to move. The behaviour towards humans in different management procedures was examined. Emphasis was given to integrate tests into daily routines. The study was conducted in a nucleus herd with 771 purebred Landrace sows. Data were collected from October 2016 until December 2018. Sows were kept in individual indoor pens with movable farrowing crates in which the animals were restrained from 7 days antepartum (ap) to an average of 7 days postpartum (pp). The Dummy Arm Test (DAT; 1444 observations) was used to assess the sows' reaction towards a stockperson handling the piglets around day 4 pp (closed crates). With the Towel Test (TT; 2846 observations), the reaction of sows to a novel object and an unexpected situation was assessed. The Trough Cleaning Test (TCT; 2805 observations) described the sows' response to common procedures such as trough cleaning. TT and TCT were conducted on days 3 pp (closed crates) and 10 pp (open crates). Variance components of behavioural traits were estimated univariately with a linear animal model, and genetic correlations between traits were derived using a multivariate animal model in ASreml 3.0. Most sows showed no or only a slight reaction to human interactions without attempting to attack them. However, a strong defensive reaction of sows was recorded in 4.0% (TCT), 4.5% (TT), and 10.7% (DAT) of observations. This behaviour of sows was observed more frequently in the open than in the closed pen system. Estimates of heritabilities (h ± SE) were h = 0.17 ± 0.05 for behaviour of sows towards humans (DAT), h = 0.19 ± 0.04 for response of sows towards unexpected situations (TT), and h = 0.13 ± 0.04 for reactions of animals to TCT. Genetic correlations (r ± SE) ranged from r = 0.59 ± 0.37 between TT and TCT to r = 0.77 ± 0.30 between TT and DAT. Our results show that the developed tests are suitable for assessing the behaviour of sows towards humans. Behavioural traits derived from these tests could be used as new phenotypes for the genetic selection of gentle and easy-to-handle sows. The genetic correlations of all tests studied were positive indicating related reaction patterns.
随着泌乳母猪在自由饲养系统中的饲养，确保饲养员的工作安全变得越来越重要。本研究的目的是开发一些行为测试，以评估泌乳母猪在具有更多运动自由度的分娩环境中的行为。对母猪在不同管理程序下对人类的行为进行了检查。重点是将这些测试整合到日常工作中。本研究在一个核心种群中进行，共有 771 头纯种长白母猪。数据收集时间为 2016 年 10 月至 2018 年 12 月。母猪被饲养在单独的室内围栏中，配有可移动的分娩箱，在产前 7 天（ap）至平均产后 7 天（pp）期间，动物被限制在分娩箱中。采用假人手臂测试（DAT；1444 次观察）评估母猪在产后第 4 天（关闭产箱）时对饲养员处理仔猪的反应。采用毛巾测试（TT；2846 次观察）评估母猪对陌生物体和意外情况的反应。桶清洗测试（TCT；2805 次观察）描述了母猪对常见程序的反应，如桶清洗。TT 和 TCT 在产后第 3 天（关闭产箱）和第 10 天（打开产箱）进行。使用线性动物模型对行为特征的方差分量进行单变量估计，并使用 ASreml 3.0 中的多变量动物模型得出特征之间的遗传相关性。大多数母猪对人类的互动没有反应或只有轻微的反应，而没有试图攻击它们。然而，在 4.0%（TCT）、4.5%（TT）和 10.7%（DAT）的观察中，记录到了母猪强烈的防御反应。这种母猪的行为在开放围栏系统中比在封闭围栏系统中更频繁地观察到。对母猪与人互动行为（DAT）的估计遗传力（h±SE）为 h=0.17±0.05，对母猪对意外情况的反应（TT）的估计遗传力为 h=0.19±0.04，对动物对 TCT 的反应的估计遗传力为 h=0.13±0.04。遗传相关性（r±SE）范围从 TT 和 TCT 之间的 r=0.59±0.37 到 TT 和 DAT 之间的 r=0.77±0.30。我们的研究结果表明，开发的测试适合评估母猪对人类的行为。从这些测试中获得的行为特征可以作为温顺、易于处理母猪遗传选择的新表型。所有研究测试的遗传相关性均为正，表明存在相关的反应模式。
