Behavioural Vices in the Barn

Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2005 | No Comments

A “device” is a term used to describe abnormal behaviour. Pigs in a production setting show several vices, because some behaviour they show is not performed in a natural setting. Belly nosing and belly sucking/naval sucking occurs about 4 or 5 days after weaning and shows that the pigs have not adapted well to weaning (especially in early weaned pigs). This can lead to severe lesions on the belly and umbilical hernias. Preventative measures include weaning later, using bowl drinkers, provide baby bottle nipples for them to suck on, provide an artificial spot to nose, and liquid feeding. Tail biting occurs when light chewing breaks the skin on the tail and other pigs begin to eat away at it. It is most common in the grow/finish stages but can happen in nursery. Tail biting can result in infection of the spine that could lead to abscesses, paralysis, or even death. This can later lead to condemned carcasses at the packer. Temperature, drafts, overcrowding, and genetics are some of the suggested reasons for tail biting. Making destructible toys for the pigs such as a rope or cloth can divert the tail biting. Ear biting tends to occur at younger ages than tail biting. It can be detected by redness and scratch marks on the base or tip of the ear. Causes can include bacteria, ear sucking, restlessness and discomfort. Preventative measures similar to tail biting can be effective. Vulva biting in sows happens in-group housing. It can range from mild to severe damage. Fighting over feed or water is a plausible cause of this condition. Spreading out feed better, increasing water drinkers, feeding more often, or moving sows out of the group at an earlier date can help prevent it.

Effect of scattered feeding and feeding twice a day during rearing on indicators of hunger and frustration in broiler breeders.

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The welfare of broiler breeders during rearing is commonly impaired, as the restrictive feeding commonly practiced, and the management procedure leaves the chicks feeling hungry and frustrated about their inability to feed. This study attempted to improve the welfare of broiler breeders by making simple and practical changes to the feeding system. The effect on hunger and frustration experienced by the broiler breeders was compared when the feed was scattered in the litter and/or feeding the chicks twice a day. Scatter feeding and feeding two meals a day did not have a significant affect on various hunger indicators such as compensatory feed intake, plasma glucose/non-esterfied fatty acid ratio and plasma corticosterone concentration. Scatter feeding did reduce the amount of time the chickens spent pecking at an object, but they spent a large amount of their time performing foraging behaviours, thus it is not clear if scatter feeding was effective at improving the welfare of the broiler breeders. Feeding twice a day increased the amount of time the chickens spent walking, which could be how they expressed their frustration about their inability to eat, or they were searching for more food. Thus, the welfare of the broiler breeders during was not improved by feeding two meals a day, scatter feeding or by combining the two treatments as the birds still demonstrated behaviours that indicate that they are still hungry.

The presence of the dam during handling prevents the socialization of young calves to humans.

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Five groups of 10 Danish Friesian calves were used to test the effect of handling and hand-feeding with or without their dams present on their subsequent response to humans. The calves were either housed singly or next to the cow, and were subjected to handling or no handling for the first 4 days after calving. Another group was housed together with their dams for the first 4 days after calving, then moved to single pens and handled there for the following 4 days. Handling was carried out 3 times per day, consisting of a 6 minute milk feeding period from a teat bucket in conjunction with patting, stroking, and talking to the calf. After a period of 20, 40, and 55 days of being housed in their home pen, each calf’s approach behaviour to an unknown person was tested. Flight distance was determined on day 55. Results showed that calves that had been housed singly and subjected to handling during the 4 days after calving, as well as calves who had been housed with their dam for the first 4 days then housed singly and subjected to handling, had significantly shorter latencies to interact with the unknown person than calves in the other treatment groups. The same two handling treatment groups also stood at the front of the pen and faced the person more often than calves in the other groups. Conclusions stated that the presence of the dam was able to limit the effect of the handling treatment on the calves’ motivation to interact with humans. The primary socializing that occurs with the dam is likely to prevent any secondary socialization that would develop with humans until the calf was isolated from the dam.

Stress parameters and immune response of layers under different cage floor and density conditions

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Laying hens were assigned to one of three floor types (top, middle, and bottom), and were allocated as one, three or five hens to a cage to obtain different stocking densities. Floor areas provided were 1968, 656, and 393.8 cm2 per hen. A number of measurements were taken to analyze stress levels. Egg weights were greater on the top floor than at other levels. Hens grouped five to a cage had significantly lower mean estimates for body weight, egg production, egg weight and plumage score, but had significantly higher mean estimates for egg albumen index, Haugh unit, serum glucose, and H-L ratio. Hens housed singly had higher serum cholesterol levels than hens in groups of five, but they had lower plasma corticosterone levels. Antibody titers were higher among groups of three hens than groups of five hens, and singly housed hens had similar levels to the other two groups. Values not affected by cage density or floor included egg breaking strength, yolk index, egg cholesterol content, and foot health. Conclusions of the study suggested that housing hens at three to a cage had no measurable effect on hen health or welfare.

Serological analysis of colostrum for health monitoring of swine maternities in Québec

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Health monitoring of swine maternities mostly rests on analysing the serum for detecting antibodies against important pathogens, like those causing porcine pleuropneumonia (Actinobacillus pleuropneumonia, or “App”), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS virus) and enzootic pneumonia (Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, or “Myco”). However, blood withdrawal requires skilled staff and can even be dangerous for both the animal and staff. In sows, colostrum withdrawal is an interesting alternative: antibodies are also present in colostrum, and withdrawal is easy and harmless for the sows and staff. It can be done more often, for faster disease detection. Also, colostrum can be frozen immediately without any treatment. Preparation requirements before serological analysis of colostrum as well as the sensitivity and specificity of this analysis in detecting the above-mentioned infections have been examines. It has been found that simple centrifugation of colostrum followed by removal of the fat layer was a sufficient preparation. For the detection of “App” (with an ELISA LC-LPS test) and “Myco” (with ELISA from Dako company), the same dilution for colostrum as for serum can be used. However, for detecting PRRS and “Myco” using an ELISA test from IDEXX Laboratories, dilution must be, respectively, between 1/40 and 1/100, and 1/120. The optimal withdrawal period of colostrum is from 6 hours before to 18 hours after farrowing, and colostrum can be stored at least 60 days in the freezer. Validation with positive and negative herds proved the serological analysis of colostrum to be as specific and sensitive as that of serum for detecting those three infections.

Risk factors for stillbirth and foetal mummification in four Brazilian swine herds

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Animal Handling: So, Did You Come Here to Dance or Fight?

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The Canadian Pork Council has developed the ACA (Animal Care Assessment tool) to answer the public demands for assurance of animal well-being. This will enhance the marketability of Canadian pork. Compliance with the CQA program is a prerequisite for using the ACA. The ACA focuses on quality stockmanship, care of animals, and appropriate housing and use of equipment.

Do low-density diets improve broiler welfare during rearing and laying.

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Due to the genetic selection for a high growth rate of progeny, broiler breeders have a high growth potential and need to be feed restricted to prevent health and reproduction problems at later ages. Low-density diets may improve welfare of restricted fed broiler breeders by increasing feed intake time with less frustration of feed intake behaviour a result. Moreover, low-density diets may promote satiety through a more filled gastrointestinal tract, and therefore feelings of hunger may be reduced. In this experiments broiler breeders were fed 4 different diets during the rearing and laying periods. Behavioural and physiological parameters were measured at different ages as indicators of hunger and frustration of the feeding motivation. A diet of 8.4 MJ/kg as compared with a standard diet of 10.9 MJ/kg extended feeding time and reduced stereotypic object pecking at 6 and 10 wk of age. Furthermore, compensatory feed intake at 12 wk of age was reduced. During lay, differences in behaviour were observed between the treatments that could be attributed to differences in feeding time. However, birds fed the diet with lowest energy content (i.e. 9.2 MJ/kg) had higher heterophil to lymphocyte ratios at 40 wk of age compared to other treatments, indicating that they experienced more stress during the laying period than the other treatments. This result could have been due to the very long feeding time of this treatment group during lay, which may be stressful. In conclusion, a low-density diet of 8.4 MJ/kg may reduce hunger and frustration in the first half of the rearing period. However, for substantial improvement of broiler breeder welfare during rearing, more extreme diet modifications are required.

Effects of neonatal handling on subsequent manageability, reactivity and learning ability of foals.

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Can short-term frustration facilitate feather pecking in laying hens?

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In laying hens, feather pecking is a major problem and it thought that it might be brought upon when the birds experience frustration. Three studies were conducted, the first study tested to see if short term frustration caused feather pecking in a high feather pecking line of laying hens. Secondly the effects of frustration on feather pecking by high and low feather pecking line was compared. The third study examined the motivation to peck at a key when the reward was withheld in high and low feather pecking lines was compared. The hens used in all the studies were taught to peck at a key to obtain a food reward. During frustration tests the feeder was covered by clear plastic. In the first study, the hens from the high feather pecking line were prone to perform gentle feather pecking and aggressive pecking during the control sessions than the victims, and it was the victims that vocalized at the highest rate. In the second study, hens from the high feather pecking line scratched more, which indicates that there is a difference in the motivation to forage or dustbathe between the two lines and this may relate to feather pecking. In the final study, hens from the low feather pecking line pecked at the key to obtain a food reward more than hens from the high feather pecking line. This illustrates that hens from the low feather pecking line had a stronger motivation to peck at the key to attain a food reward. In general, there was no evidence to verify that the frustration the hens experienced resulted in the hens to begin to feather peck. There were noticeable differences between the two genetic lines in their reaction to frustration and in the motivation to obtain a food reward, thus the possibility of the involvement of frustration in feather pecking in not ruled out.