Recently computerised pig feeding has attracted interest from pig breeding companies, to improve selection. Testing has in the past been carried out on Individually housed pigs, whereas on commercial farms pigs are group housed and correlations between these two environments can be poor. Practically this problem can be solved by group housing pigs with an electronic feeding station. This system allows one pig to feed at a time and records each pigs Identity and the amount of food consumed, making the selection environment similar to conditions found on commercial farms. This paper presents results showing the strong effect of social factors on the feeding behaviour of Individual growing pigs In such a system.

The subjects were 30 male and 30 female Large White X Landrace pigs (Cotswold Pig Development Co. Ltd, Lincoln UK), divided Into six groups of ten, balanced for sex and initially body weight (mean starting and finishing weight 32.1 vs 68.5kg) within a pen but not between pens. Measurements of feeding behaviour (see below) were continuously monitored for an average of 38 days, by one electronic feeding station (Feed Intake Recording Equipment, developed by Hunday Electronics Ltd.) In each pen. The pigs were fed on a standard pelleted grower diet.