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Sow behaviour and piglet weight gain after late cross-fostering in farrowing crates and pens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2020

R. L. King Open the ORCID record for R. L. King [Opens in a new window] ,
S. M. Matheson ,
E. M. Baxter  and
S. A. Edwards
R. L. King*
Affiliation:
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Agriculture Building, King's Road, Newcastle upon TyneNE1 7RU, UK
S. M. Matheson
Affiliation:
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Agriculture Building, King's Road, Newcastle upon TyneNE1 7RU, UK
E. M. Baxter
Affiliation:
Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Scotlandʼs Rural College (SRUC), Peter Wilson Building, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, EdinburghEH9 3JG, UK
S. A. Edwards
Affiliation:
School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Agriculture Building, King's Road, Newcastle upon TyneNE1 7RU, UK
*
†E-mail: rk1979@my.bristol.ac.uk
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Abstract

Determining best practices for managing free farrowing systems is crucial for uptake. Cross-fostering, the exchange of piglets between litters, is routinely performed amongst crate-housed sows. However, cross-fostering can increase fighting amongst the litter and may be more challenging within free farrowing systems as sows have more freedom to respond to cross-fostered piglets. This study compared the effect of either cross-fostering (FOS), or a control of sham-fostering (CON), of four focal piglets per litter on Day 6 postpartum in crates (CRATE) and free farrowing pens (PEN). The post-treatment behavioural responses of sows were recorded (Day 6 = 60 min; Day 7 = 300 min; n = 48), as were the average daily gain (ADG; g/day), total weight gain (TWG; kg) and body lesion scores of focal piglets and their littermates throughout lactation (Day 6, Day 8, Day 11 and Day 26; n = 539) and the post-weaning period (Day 29, Day 32 and Day 60; n = 108). On Day 6, though post-reunion latency to nursing did not differ, latency to successful nursing was longer amongst FOS than CON litters (P < 0.001), more so amongst CRATE FOS than PEN FOS (P < 0.01). On Day 7, PEN FOS sows had fewer successful nursing bouts (P < 0.05) and exhibited decreased lateral (P < 0.01) and increased ventral lying frequencies (P < 0.01) compared to all other housing and treatment combinations. Focal piglet ADG was lower for FOS than CON in the CRATE during Day 6 to Day 8 (P < 0.01) and lower in the PEN during Day 6 to Day 8 (P < 0.001), Day 8 to Day 11 (P < 0.01) and Day 11 to Day 26 (P < 0.05). The TWG of pre-weaned focal piglets (Day 6 to Day 26) was higher amongst CON than FOS litters (P = 0.01). Post-weaning, piglet ADG was higher for PEN than CRATE during Day 26 to Day 29 (P < 0.01) and higher for FOS than CON during Day 26 to Day 29 (P < 0.05), Day 29 to Day 32 (P < 0.001) and Day 32 to Day 60 (P < 0.01); thus, TWG was higher for FOS than CON during the weaner (P = 0.001) and the combined lactation and weaner periods (P = 0.09). In conclusion, sow behaviour was disrupted by cross-fostering in the crates and pens and continued to be disturbed on the following day amongst penned sows. FOS piglets exhibited reduced ADG after cross-fostering, which extended throughout lactation in the pens. However, the increased post-weaning weight gain of FOS piglets meant that their TWG was higher than CON piglets, irrespective of the farrowing system used.

Keywords

piglactation housingaverage daily gainbody lesion scoresweaning
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 14 , Issue 9 , September 2020 , pp. 1923 - 1933
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2020

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