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Nurse sow strategies in the domestic pig: II. Consequences for piglet growth, suckling behaviour and sow nursing behaviour

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2018

O. Schmitt Open the ORCID record for O. Schmitt [Opens in a new window] ,
E. M. Baxter ,
L. A. Boyle  and
K. O’Driscoll
O. Schmitt*
Affiliation:
Pig Development Department, Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co.Cork, Ireland Department of Animal Production, Easter Bush Veterinary Centre, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, EH25 9RG, UK
E. M. Baxter
Affiliation:
Animal Behaviour and Welfare Team, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Research Group, SRUC, West Mains Road, EdinburghEH9 3JG, UK
L. A. Boyle
Affiliation:
Pig Development Department, Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co.Cork, Ireland
K. O’Driscoll
Affiliation:
Pig Development Department, Teagasc Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co.Cork, Ireland
*
†E-mail: schmitt.oce@gmail.com
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Abstract

Nurse sow strategies are used to manage large litters on commercial pig farms. However, new-born piglets transferred to nurse sows in late lactation might be compromised in terms of growth and survival. We investigated the effects of two nurse sow strategies on piglet growth, suckling behaviour and sow nursing behaviour. At 1-day post-farrowing, the four heaviest piglets from large litters were transferred to a nurse sow either 21 (1STEP21, n=9 litters) or 7 (2STEP7, n=10 litters) days into lactation. The remainder of the litter remained with their mother and was either kept intact (remain intact (RI), n=10 litters) or had some piglets cross-fostered to equalise birth weights (remain equalised (RE), n=9 litters). The 7-day-old piglets from 2STEP7 were transferred onto a sow 21 days into lactation (2STEP21, n=10 litters). The growth of new-born piglets on 1STEP21 and 2STEP7 nurse sows was initially lower than in RI litters (F3,33.8=4.61; P<0.01), but weaning weights did not significantly differ (F4,32.7=0.78; P>0.5). After the 1st week of lactation, the weights and growth rates did not differ between treatments. Fighting behaviour during nursing bouts decreased over time. The frequency of fights was higher in 1STEP21 and 2STEP21 litters compared with RI litters (t122=3.06 and t123=3.00, respectively, P<0.05). The 2STEP21 litters had shorter nursing bouts than RI and 1STEP21 litters (t107=−2.81 and t81.7=2.8, respectively, P<0.05), which were more frequently terminated by 2STEP21 than RI sows (t595=2.93; P<0.05). Transferring heaviest piglets from RI and RE litters to nurse sows reduced the percentage of teat changes during nursing bouts (RI: F1,275=16.61; RE: F1,308=43.59; P<0.001). In conclusion, nurse sow strategies do not appear to compromise piglet growth. However, new-born piglets transferred onto sows in late lactation experienced more competition at the udder, suggesting that the sows’ stage of lactation is of importance to how achievable nurse sow strategies are. Thus, the two-step nurse sow strategy is likely the best option (in relation to growth and suckling behaviour), as it minimises the difference between piglet age and sow stage of lactation.

Keywords

large litterspigbehaviourperformancewelfare
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , March 2019 , pp. 590 - 599
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2018 

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