The use of mirrors for the control of stereotypic weaving behaviour in the stabled horse

Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2002 | No Comments

Social isolation in stabled horses is thought to be a contributing factor to weaving, a common locomotor stereotypy. The purpose of this study was to determine if providing mirrors would relieve the sense of social isolation felt by the horses, as they would think their conspecifics were nearby. The behaviour of six horses was recorded for one week prior to the exposure to mirrors. For the five weeks following the initial week of observations, three horses were exposed to mirrors and three were not. The mirrors were then switched, such that the horses that were not exposed to mirrors became exposed, and those that had been exposed were not. The behaviour of the horses was then recorded for five more weeks. The experiment ended with none of the horses being exposed to mirrors and their behaviour was recorded for one week. The results indicated that the mirror significantly reduced the problem behaviours of weaving and nodding, but did not affect the time spent standing active, dozing or ingesting. The use of mirrors to treat weaving and nodding problems appears to be more effective than other treatments including weaving bars.

Does nutritive and non-nutritive sucking reduce other oral behaviors and stimulate rest in calves?

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A common reason for producers not housing bucket-reared calves in groups is the non-nutritive oral behaviours (cross-suckling) that occur immediately following a meal. This study investigated if non-nutritive oral behaviours are associated with a nutritive suckling, if it reduces excitement and if nutritive sucking can be replaced with sucking on a dry teat. First, the differences in behaviour and cardiac activity of calves fed from a bucket versus calves fed through an artificial teat. All calves were individually housed. Calves fed from a bucket had a higher heart rate during their meal and after the meal only these calves were observed bar sucking. Bucket-fed-calves also spent more time licking their pen or their neighbor, laid down more quickly and had less variation in their heart rate. In the second experiment, the calves were individually housed and fed from either a bucket or an artificial teat; however, the effect of access to a non-nutritive teat after the completion of a meal was examined. Calves fed from a bucket, sucked on the non-nutritive teat longer than teat-fed-calves. Access to the non-nutritive teat in bucket-fed-calves also reduced the amount of time the calves spent nibbling at parts of the pen and the calves would lie down quicker. The third experiment the calves were either fed from a bucket or an automatic teat feeder system, but both feeding treatments were now housed in groups. Initially when the bucket-fed-calves were one month old they spent more time nibbling at parts of the pen, however, by three months of age, they reduced the amount of time they spent nibbling and cross-suckling. The calves that were bucket-fed consumed more milk, which resulted in them gaining more weight. When calves are housed individually, the calves perform fewer non-nutritive oral activities and are much calmer when they are fed from an artificial teat. Also by providing bucket fed calves with access to a non-nutritive artificial teat after individually calves have finished feeding can compensate for the lack of nutritive sucking. When calves are housed in groups, an automatic teat feeder does not completely satisfy the calves desire to suckle. Regardless of housing, the provision of an artificial teat during feeding did not improve the growth rate of the calves.

Comprendre la rA

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La rA

DEVELOPMENT OF A RESPIRATION RATE MONITOR FOR SWINE

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Cross Fostering

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A PorkNet Summary/ — Work reported in the Canadian Journal of Animal Science, Vol. 80, looks at the consequences of cross fostering piglets older than two days of age. The cross fostering was typically done at six days of age. It was concluded that cross fostering at this time did not impair the growth of the piglets, but did facilitate their adaptation to unacquainted piglets after weaning.

Minimum space allowance for transportation of swine by road.

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The minimum space allowance required for pigs in transit at a broad range of body sizes has not yet been adequately assessed or well described. Consultation between the swine transportation industry, animal welfare groups, and a literature review produced a maximal loading pressure recommendation for pigs weighing from 5 to 250 kg body weight. Under ideal conditions, the recommended maximal loading pressure for swine loaded in groups can be described as a hoerl model y = (37.53)(0.9969)W(W0.5008), where y = loading pressure in kg body weight/m2 and W = average animal body weight in kilograms.

Using higher energy diets to improve weaned pig performance

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The weaning period is often associated with problems such as low feed consumption and reduced growth rate. Management of the weaned pig requires special attention to housing, environment and nutrition to reduce the post-weaning growth lag and to maximize performance. Environmental stressors such as weaning site, stocking density and group size can further reduce feed intake and thus the growth rate of weaned pigs. Understanding how the piglet responds to changes in environment and dietary nutrients will lead to improved piglet management and performance. To quantify the effectiveness of increasing energy density as a method to improve weaned pig performance, a study was designed where groups of similar pigs were provided diets ranging in digestible energy (DE) content. It was concluded that in young pigs (10 to 25 kg BW) with free access to feed, the limitation to growth is not due to gut capacity within the dietary digestible energy range of 3,350 to 3,650 kcal DE/kg. Increasing the energy density of the diet did not result in an improvement in pig performance in relation to daily body weight gain or protein deposition. It appears that growth limitations in the young pig are not overcome simply by increasing the dietary energy level. The reason for the lack of response to increasing dietary DE level is not clear; however, the source of energy and the crude protein content of the diet may play important roles in how efficiently the dietary energy is utilized.

The effect of DL-methionine supplementation on digestibility and performance traits of growing pigs fed broken rice and water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica)

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Responsiveness of Swine Waste Management Costs to Feeding Low Crude Protein Diets

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Livestock waste management issues are of growing environmental concern in the United States and elsewhere. Lowering the quantity of nutrients excreted by pigs can ease associated environmental problems and at the same time can reduce waste management costs. Reduction in nutrient excretion can be achieved by feeding pigs with low crude protein diets. The paper develops a procedure for calculation of swine waste management costs as function of four dietary regimes. Feeding low crude protein diets significantly reduced amount of nitrogen excreted by pigs. As a result, reduction in waste management costs may be achieved, especially when the pig farm does not have enough land to apply all the manure it generates.

Strategies for Addressing Odor

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A new University of Manitoba study has evaluated several strategies for addressing odor. The 100-page a