Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T10:24:38.068Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of different types of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of finishing pigs in two different housing systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2017

K. Scott ,
L. Taylor ,
B. P.Gill  and
S. A. Edwards
K. Scott*
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, U.K.
L. Taylor
Affiliation:
MLC, Milton Keynes MK6 1AX, U.K.
B. P.Gill
Affiliation:
MLC, Milton Keynes MK6 1AX, U.K.
S. A. Edwards
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, U.K.
*
Email: Kamara.Scott@ncl.ac.uk
Get access

Extract

It is generally accepted that environmental enrichment improves the welfare of growing pigs through the provision of substrates for exploratory and manipulatory behaviour. EC Directive 2001/93 and The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2003 state that pigs must have permanent access to materials to enable proper investigation and manipulation activities, and give as examples straw, hay, wood, sawdust, mushroom compost and peat. However, the use of particulate rooting materials in slatted systems can cause difficulties for slurry management and it is important to establish whether alternative enrichment forms, such as hanging objects, can be equally effective. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of environmental enrichment with either hanging manipulable toys or rootable substrates on the behaviour of finishing pigs in two contrasting housing systems.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2005 , 2005 , pp. 82
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Scott, K., Armstrong, D., Chennells., D.J., Eckersall., P.D., Gill., B.P., Hunt, B., Taylor, L., Edwards., S.A., 2004. The welfare of finishing pigs under different housing and feeding systems: 1. liquid versus dry feeding in fully-slatted and straw-bedded housing. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, p43.Google Scholar
Van de Weerd, H. A., Docking, C. M., Day, J. E. L., Breuer, K., and Edwards, S. A. 2003. Longitudinal study of adverse behaviour of undocked pigs in two different housing systems. In: The Appliance of Pig Science. Eds Thompson, JE, Gill, BP, Varley, MA. BSAS Publication 31. Nottingham University Press, Nottingham. pp 165–168.Google Scholar