TY - JOUR
KW - nutritive additive
KW - fattening
KW - rearing
KW - Sus scrofa domesticus
KW - tail biting
AU - K Kauselmann
AU - L Schrader
AU - B Glitz
AU - E Gallmann
AU - H Schrade
AU - E Krause
AB - Tail biting is one of the biggest problems in pig production systems that causes animal welfare and economic problems. Therefore, tail docking is a widely used intervention to reduce tail biting. However, appropriate enrichment material that stimulates and increases exploration behaviour of pigs also reduces the prevalence and risk of tail biting. In 288 pigs with undocked tails we investigated whether the attractiveness of chopped straw (CS) as enrichment material can be further increased when maize kernels were added (CS+MK). Further, we examined whether a higher attractiveness is accompanied by reduced tail incidents. We used material dispensers equipped with ultra-high-frequency radio-frequency identification (UHF RFID) systems to record individual exploration times of the pigs to the offered enrichment materials. Furthermore, animals were scored thrice for tail length losses and tail injuries, i.e. after the rearing period, in the middle of the fattening period and at the end of the fattening period. Both rearing and fattening pigs had higher exploration durations when housed with CS+MK compared to CS (LME: rearing, P<0.001, fattening, P<0.05). Interestingly, enrichment materials not only remained interesting but were used even more from rearing to fattening. However, when CS+MK was offered pigs showed a higher prevalence for tail biting incidents in the rearing, but not in the fattening period, compared to CS (rearing GLMM, P<0.01). This may have resulted from competition for the more attractive enrichment material (CS+MK). An edible additive increased the interest for straw in pigs over long term but could not improve tail status.
BT - Berliner und Münchener Tierärztliche Wochenschrift
CY - Hannover
DA - 12/2020
DO - 10.2376/1439-0299-2020-24
LA - English
N2 - Tail biting is one of the biggest problems in pig production systems that causes animal welfare and economic problems. Therefore, tail docking is a widely used intervention to reduce tail biting. However, appropriate enrichment material that stimulates and increases exploration behaviour of pigs also reduces the prevalence and risk of tail biting. In 288 pigs with undocked tails we investigated whether the attractiveness of chopped straw (CS) as enrichment material can be further increased when maize kernels were added (CS+MK). Further, we examined whether a higher attractiveness is accompanied by reduced tail incidents. We used material dispensers equipped with ultra-high-frequency radio-frequency identification (UHF RFID) systems to record individual exploration times of the pigs to the offered enrichment materials. Furthermore, animals were scored thrice for tail length losses and tail injuries, i.e. after the rearing period, in the middle of the fattening period and at the end of the fattening period. Both rearing and fattening pigs had higher exploration durations when housed with CS+MK compared to CS (LME: rearing, P<0.001, fattening, P<0.05). Interestingly, enrichment materials not only remained interesting but were used even more from rearing to fattening. However, when CS+MK was offered pigs showed a higher prevalence for tail biting incidents in the rearing, but not in the fattening period, compared to CS (rearing GLMM, P<0.01). This may have resulted from competition for the more attractive enrichment material (CS+MK). An edible additive increased the interest for straw in pigs over long term but could not improve tail status.
PB - Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG
PP - Hannover
PY - 2020
T1 - Turning the gaze to maize: The effects  of maize kernels in straw as enrichment  on exploration in pigs
T2 - Berliner und Münchener Tierärztliche Wochenschrift
TI - Turning the gaze to maize: The effects  of maize kernels in straw as enrichment  on exploration in pigs
TT - Mais im Fokus: Auswirkungen von Maiskörnern in Stroh als Beschäftigungsmaterial auf die Exploration bei Schweinen
VL - 133
SN - 1439-0299
ER -