Observations on the pre- and post-weaning behaviour of piglets reared in commercial indoor and outdoor environments

Animal Science

Volumn 72, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 75-86

  Cox, L N ^a   Cooper, J J ^a  

^a DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Animal welfare; Behaviour; Enrichment; Pigs; Weaning

Indexed keywords

EID: 0035255781     PISSN: 13577298     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S1357729800055570     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. A'Ness, P. J., Horrell, R. I. and Chen, T. S. 1997. The responsiveness of suckling piglets to solid food presented in different forms. In Animal choices (ed. J. M. Forbes, T. L. J. Lawrence, R. G. Rodway and M. A. Varley), British Society of Animal Science, occiasional publication no. 20, pp. 113-114.
2. Anisman, H., Zaharia, M. D., Meaney, M. J. and Merali, Z. 1998. Do early-life events permanently alter behavioral and hormonal responses to stressors? International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 16: 149-164.
3. Appleby, M. C., Pajor, E. A. and Fraser, D. 1991. Effects of management options on creep feeding by piglets. Animal Production 53: 361-366.
4. Arey, D. S. and Franklin, M. F. 1995. Effects of straw and unfamiliarity on fighting between newly mixed growing piglets. Applied Animal Behavioural Science 45: 23-30.
5. Black, J. E. 1998. How a child builds its brain: some lessons from animal studies of neural plasticity. Preventive Medicine 27: 168-171.
6. Black, J. E., Sirevaag, A. M., Wallace, C. S., Savin, M. H. and Greenough, W. T. 1989. Effects of complex experience on somatic growth and organ development in rats. Developmental Psychobiology 22: 727-752.
7. Blecha, F., Pollmann, D. S. and Nichols, D. A. 1983. Weaning pigs at an early age decreases cellular immunity. Journal of Animal Science 56: 396-400.
8. Cooper, J. J., Cox, L. N. and Whitworth, C. 2000. Early environmental experience and transferable skills in the weaned piglet. In UFAW symposium on consciousness, cognition and animal welfare, p. 31 (abstr.).
9. Dybkjaer, L. 1992. The identification of behavioural indicators of 'stress' in early weaned piglets. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 35: 135-147.
10. Fagan, R. 1981. Animal play behaviour. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
11. Farm Animal Welfare Council. 1988. Assessment of pig production systems. FAWC, Surbiton, UK.
12. Farm Animal Welfare Council. 1996. Report on the welfare of pigs kept outdoors. FAWC, Surbiton, UK.
13. Fraser, D. 1978. Observations on the behavioural development of suckling and early weaned piglets during the first six weeks after birth. Animal Behaviour 26: 22-30.
14. Fraser, D., Feddes, J. J. R. and Pajor, E. A. 1994. The relationship between creep feeding behaviour of piglets and adaptation to weaning: effect of diet quality. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 74: 1-6.
15. Fraser, D., Phillips, P. A., Thompson, B. K. and Tennessen, T. 1991. Effect of straw on the behaviour of growing pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 30: 307-318.
16. Grandin, T. 1989. Effect of rearing environment and environmental enrichment on behavior and neural development in young pigs. Ph.D. thesis. University of Illinois.
17. Greenough, W. T. and Juraska, J. M. 1979. Experience induced changes in fine brain structure: their behavioral implications. In Development and evolution of brain size: behavioral implications (ed. M. E. Hahn, C. Jensen and B. C. Dudek), pp. 295-320. Academic Press, New York.
18. Harlow, H. F. and Harlow, M. K. 1962. Social deprivation in monkeys. Scientific American 207: 136-146.
19. Healy, S. D. and Tovee, M. J. 1999. Environmental enrichment and impoverishment: neurophysiological effects. In Attitudes to animals (ed. F. L. Dolins), pp. 54-76. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
20. Heyes, C. M. and Galef, B. G. 1996. Social learning in animals. Academic Press, San Diego.
21. Horrell, R. I. and A'Ness, P. J. 1998. The skills to cope with early-weaning in pigs: a comparison of indoor and outdoor. In Proceedings of the 32nd congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ed. I. Vessier and A. Boissy), p. 216. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France.
22. Jarvinen, M. K., Morrow-Tesch, J., McGlone, J. J. and Powley, T. L. 1998. Effects of diverse developmental environments on neuronal morphology in domestic pigs (Sus scrofa). Developmental Brain Research 107: 21-31.
23. Jensen, P. 1986. Observations on the maternal behaviour of free-ranging domestic pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 16: 131-142.
24. Jensen, P. 1995. The weaning process of free-ranging domestic pigs: within and between litter variations. Ethology 100: 14-25.
25. Jensen, P. and Recen, B. 1989. When to wean - observations from free-ranging domestic pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 23: 49-60.
26. Jensen, P. and Yngvesson, J. 1998. Aggression between unacquainted pigs-sequential assessment and the effects of familiarity and weight. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 58: 49-61.
27. Keeling, L. and Hurnik, J. F. 1996. Social facilitation and synchronisation of eating between familiar and unfamiliar newly weaned piglets. Acta Agriculture Scandinavica 46: 54-60.
28. Kempermann, G., Kuhn, H. G. and Gage, F. H. 1997. More hippocampal neurons in adult mice living in an enriched environment. Nature 386: 493-495.
29. Lammers, G. J. and Schouten, W. G. P. 1986. Effects of pen size during rearing on later agonistic behaviour in piglets. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 33: 307-322.
30. Mendl, M. and Erhard, H. W. 1997. Social choices in farm animals: to fight or not to fight? In Animal choices (ed. J. M Forbes, T. L. J. Lawrence, R. G. Rodway and M. A. Varley), British Society of Animal Science occasional publication no. 20, pp. 45-53.
31. Metz, J. H. M. and Gonyou, H. W. 1990. Effects of age and housing on the behavioural and haemolytic reaction of piglets to weaning. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 27: 299-309.
32. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. 1983. Codes of recommendations for the welfare of livestock: pigs. MAFF Publications, London.
33. Newberry, R. C. and Wood-Gush, D. G. M. 1988. Development of some behaviour patterns in piglets under semi-natural conditions. Animal Production 46: 103-110.
34. Nicol, C. J. 1995. The social transmission of information and behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 44: 79-98.
35. Pajor, E. A., Fraser, D. and Kramer, D. L. 1991. Consumption of solid feed by suckling pigs: individual variation and relation to weight gain. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 32: 139-155.
36. Putten, G. van and Dammers, J. 1976. A comparative study of the well-being of piglets reared conventionally and in cages. Applied Animal Ethology 6: 339-356.
37. Rushen, J. 1988. Assessment of fighting ability or simple habituation: what causes young pigs (Sus scrofa) to stop fighting? Aggressive Behaviour 14: 155-167.
38. Rushen, J. and Pajor, E. 1987. Offence and defence in fights between young pigs (Sus scrofa). Aggressive Behaviour 13: 329-346.
39. Schouten, W. G. P. 1986. Rearing conditions and behaviour in pigs. Ph.D. thesis, University of Wageningen.
40. Stangel, G. and Jensen, P. 1991. Behaviour of semi-naturally kept sows and piglets (except suckling) during 10 days postpartum. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 31: 211-227.
41. Stolba, A. and Wood-Gush, D. G. M. 1989. The behaviour of pigs in a semi-natural environment. Animal Production 48: 419-425.
42. Thornton, K. 1988. Outdoor pig production. Farming Press, Ipswich.
43. Walsh, R. N. and Cummins, R. A. 1975. Mechanisms mediating the production of environmentally induced brain changes. Psychological Bulletin 82: 986-1000.
44. Webster, S. D. 1997. The post-weaning behaviour of indoor bred and outdoor bred piglets. In Proceedings of the 31st congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ed. P. H. Hemsworth, M. Spinka and L. Kostal), p. 234. Research Institute of Animal Production, Unrineves, Czech Republic.
45. Wiepkema, P. R. 1987. Developmental aspects of motivated behavior in domestic animals. Journal of Animal Science 65: 1220-1227.
46. Worobec, E. K., Duncan, I. J. H. and Widowski, T. M. 1999. The effects of weaning at 7, 14 and 28 days on piglet behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 62: 173-182.
47. Worsaea, H. and Schmidt, M. 1980. Plasma cortisol and behaviour in early weaned piglets. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 21: 640-657.
48. Zentall, T. R. and Galef, B. G. 1988. Social learning: psychological and biological perspectives. Erlbaum, NJ.