Salivary cortisol (a stress hormone) is an outcome measure that can be used
along with health, behaviour, and productivity as an indication of what pigs are
experiencing when exposed to various production methods. Saliva sampling
has the potential to be a relatively non-invasive method of determining cortisol
concentration, where pigs chew on cotton attached to a rod to collect the
sample. However, techniques have not yet been validated or standardized for
use in grower-finisher pigs. The purpose of this study was to determine the
effect that different sampling regimens have on salivary cortisol concentration. It was found that Group/Interval sampling appears to be the least stressful
regimen for collecting saliva samples. With this knowledge, there will be
increased confidence that salivary cortisol concentrations indicate a stress
response to the situation being tested (for example, the effect of crowding)
and not a response to the sampling procedure