This study focused on temperament tests in group-housed finishing pigs, with the objective of validating measures that are readily applicable in commercial settings and potentially related to individual differences in stress response. At 24 weeks of age, animals were subjected to three tests of fear in the home pen: the human approach test (HAT), novel object test (NOT) and open door test(ODT). It was found that latency to perform all three fear tests decreased significantly over time. Comparisons between group fear tests and social tests showed that pigs which readily approach a human tended to have higher lesion scores and fewer feeding bouts in the feed competition trial. While test latencies decrease with repetition, the HAT and ODT show individual consistency over time, which suggests that these tests describe behavioural tendencies and may be useful for predicting fearful responses at slaughter.

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