Ethology and W elfare of Pigs Chapter 1

1. Ethology and Welfare of PigsChapter 1 Author: RNDr. Marek Špinka, CSc.

2. Evolutional Lineage of Domesticated Pigs‘ Behaviour Domesticated pigs are descended from the wild boar. Through domestication andbreeding, the wild boar’s behaviourwas made calmer and less active. However, the primary behavioural patterns (feeding, social, aggressive, maternal, etc.) were left unchanged. Domesticated pigs inherited their ethological needs from their ancestors in the wild.

3. Sensory Perception and Communication

4. Scent – the Most Important Sense of Perception in Pigs Pigs use scent during: Feeding Distinguishing of individual pigs During signalisation of danger,via pheromones. Pigs are able to smellsignalsthat humans cannot.

5. Example of the Importance of the Sense of Smell to Pigs It has been proven by experiment that a sowcannot distinguish her piglets individually until the second day after birth. Practical result: a mother will happily rear spurious piglets.

6. Hearing is Important for Communication Examples of vocal communication: The piglets synchronise the rhythm of their suckling to the mother’s grunting. Sows react to piglets‘ squealing by immediate readiness to protect them. Too much noise in the stalls impairs communication between pigs.

7. An example of vocal communication: a lonely piglet calling its mother

8. Sense of Touch - Important during Interactions with Surroundings Uses: searching forfood, exploring new objects, suckling – by massaging the sow’s teats, piglets triggerthe ejection of milk.

9. Social Behaviour

10. Pigs are Social Animals The natural number of female pigs in a group is 3-8. There are strict hiearchical relationships inside the group. Pigs strongly protect their territory – unknown pigs are unwelcome. Pigs should be kept in stable groups.

11. Meeting of Strange Sows Always Leads to Fights Fights are most intensive during the first few hoursafter meeting. Increased aggressivity lasts for a few days. Wounds from fights are slight, but the stress is sizeable. Groups of sows should be mixed as little as possible.

12. Group Hierarchy Sows naturally form a stable group hierarchy, with a low level of aggressivity. Whenestablishing the hierarchy, the dominant sow will attack a submissiveone, pursuing from a distance of about 1-3 meters. Therefore,the wall of a group stall should be at least 3 meters long, so the submissive sows have room to retreat.

13. Feeding Behaviour

14. Digging It is in pigs’ nature to obtain most of their foodfrom the soil. Pigs need to spend part of their time digging in a suitable substrate. Pigs kept in stalls should be provided with bedding. It will satisfy their need to dig.

15. Chewing Pigs, as descendants of the wild boar, have a natural inclination toward a mainly vegetable diet, with a high proportion of fiber. Pigs need to spend a considerable amount of time chewing their food,even if they get a high energy food. Straw satisfiespigs‘ need to chew.

16. Vacuum chewing Bar biting This is a prime example of abnormal behaviour, and is a sign of compromised animal welfare An unsatisfied need to chew leads to: Caused by a lack of bulk feed. Caused by a combination of starvation and restriction of movement.

17. Social Hierarchy and Feeding Pigs need to eat together with other pigs. Dominant pigs eat preferentially. Conflicts during feeding lead to fights andprevention of access for inferior pigs. Pigs must be enabled to access the feed all at once, or the eating individual has to be protected by a feeding machine.

18. Maternal Behaviour and Behaviour of Piglets

19. Pregnant Sows Build a Nest Before Delivery In natural conditions, pregnant sows build a nest 1-2 daysbefore delivery. Sows housed in stalls still have a need for suitable material to collect and arrange into a nest prior to delivery. It is essential to provide sows with appropriate bedding material with which to build a nest before delivery.

20. Sows Lie Down During and After Delivery During delivery, and for about 12 hours after, a sow calmly lies down. Newly-born piglets independently look for a teat to suckle colostrum. Sows don‘t mindrestricted movement at this time.

21. Danger of Overlying A piglet weightsonly 1% of sow‘s bodyweight. The danger of overlying lasts for about 3 days after delivery. Piglets can be protected either by a farrowing crate or by sow‘s natural behaviour.

22. massaging of teats milk ejection Vocal communication (see the following pictures) Suckling is a complex interaction comprising stimulates sow‘s teats to eject milk expulsion of milk enables suckling

23. Vocal communication during suckling: 1. grunting of the sow Function of grunting: to synchronise behaviour of the sow and her piglets

24. Vocal communication during suckling: 2. ”croaking“ of piglets Function of ”croaking“: signals pig‘s identity, and strenghtens the mother-piglet relationship

25. Vocal communication during suckling: 3. squeaking of piglets during a fight for teats Function of squeaking: signals the broken order of teats to the sow

26. Playful Behaviour Playful behaviour is usually observed in piglets 2-6 weeks old. Social playful behaviour can appear to be fighting.However, no injuries occur. By playful behaviour, the piglets train their social and motorskills. Piglets’ should be housed with sufficient space and beddingtoallow for playful behaviour.

27. Weaning – Loss of Mother The natural age for weaning of piglets is around 12-18 weeks. If weaned early (3-4 weeks or sooner), piglets have an unsatisfied need to suckle. This results in the massaging of the bellies of other piglets, a form of abnormal behaviour. Piglets shouldn‘t be weaned before their28th day.

28. Weaning – Multiple Stresses During weaning, the piglets are exposed to multiple stresses: loss of their mother, loss of milk, shift to a strange environment, mixing with strange piglets,resulting infights and injuries. It is desirable to separate thesestresses: first, segregate the mother,leaving the piglets in their original environment. Wait a few days, then move the piglets.

29. Housing and Behaviour Proper housing should provide a pig with: room to rest peacefully, proper bedding, by which a pig can thermoregulate (if this is notprovided, the air should be regulated), separate space for defecation, stimuli for expressing their natural behaviour, safety from fear of man/farmer.

30. Thermoregulation in Hot Environment wallowing lying on a cool surface Pigs are not able to cool themselves by sweating. In high temperatures, they lower their body temperature by thermoregulation: The pig wets its body in water, mud, and eventually in excrement. Heat is released through evaporation. The pig cools its body through a convection of heat to the cold floor.

31. Thermoregulation in Cold Environment bedding physical contact Pigs also thermoregulate in low temperatures. resting in close physical contact reduces heat loss burying themselves in straw reduces heat loss

32. Natural and Functional Division ofHousing resting – in dry, quiet spots by walls defecation - in cool, wet spots activity – in a free space of the stall The size and arrangement of the stall should allow pigs to carry out different ativities in separate areas of the stall.

33. Poor and Overcrowded Housing: disables functional division of the stall, does not offer a permanent place for rest, which leads to distress, doesn‘t support creation of a separate place for defecation –> the animals and stall are unnaturally dirty The housing should provide pigs with a chance to functionallydivide the stall.

34. tail docking - solves the consequences provide bedding - solves the cause Abnormal Behaviour and the Environment tail biting cause: no bedding two different solutions

35. Human-Animal Relationship Rough handling causes stress, and fear of humans. This impairs sows’ reproduction. A good attitude towardsanimalsmakes work in a stall more interesting and brings more satisfaction to the workers. Kind handling also improves productivity, and has direct economic results.