Pig

Welfare assessment in pigs using the salivary proteome

Identifying the potential presence of stress at the pig farm is fundamental since it affects pig welfare. As a result, a reliable and straightforward tool to monitor stress could record the welfare status of the animals. Although numerous methods to...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Prims, S., Van Ginneken, C., Van Ostade, X. et al. 2024. Welfare assessment in pigs using the salivary proteome. Animals 14(11), 1703.

Rearing pigs with play opportunities: The effects on disease resilience in pigs experimentally inoculated with PRRSV

Positive emotions can reduce disease susceptibility during infectious challenges in humans, and emerging evidence suggests similar effects in farm animals. Because play behaviour may support a positive emotional state in pigs, this study investigates whether rearing pigs with regular intermittent...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Rearing & WeaningAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Steinerová, K., Harding, J. C., Parker, S. E. et al. 2024. Rearing pigs with play opportunities: The effects on disease resilience in pigs experimentally inoculated with PRRSV. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 11.

A systematic approach to defining and verifying descriptors used in the Qualitative Behavioural Assessment of sows

Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) is a welfare evaluation tool that uses a holistic approach to capturing an animal's emotional state. Lists of QBA descriptors validated to assess pig welfare exist, but their definitions are often not described in peer-reviewed literature...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Ibach, S., Chou, J.-Y., Battini, M. et al. 2024. A systematic approach to defining and verifying descriptors used in the Qualitative Behavioural Assessment of sows. Animal Welfare 33, e8.

Recommendations for measuring and standardizing light for laboratory mammals to improve welfare and reproducibility in animal research

Light enables vision and exerts widespread effects on physiology and behavior, including regulating circadian rhythms, sleep, hormone synthesis, affective state, and cognitive processes. Appropriate lighting in animal facilities may support welfare and ensure that animals enter experiments in an appropriate...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: All/General, Cat, Dog, Goat, Macaque, Marmoset, Mouse, Nonhuman Primate, Pig, Rat, Rodent, Sheep, Vervet (African Green Monkey)

Citation: Lucas, R. J., Allen, A. E., Brainard, G. C. et al. 2024. Recommendations for measuring and standardizing light for laboratory mammals to improve welfare and reproducibility in animal research. PLOS Biology 22(3), e3002535.

The arterial blood sampling associated with PET imaging studies can lead to post-scan complications in Göttingen minipigs

When disease progression or treatment effects are investigated, pigs are frequently used for imaging studies. We recently showed that prolonged anesthesia with intensive blood sampling and road transportation affect internal organs in non-recovery imaging studies in domestic pigs. In the...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Imaging & Electrophysiological RecordingAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Alstrup, A. K. O., Thea Pinholt Lillethorup, Landau, A. M. et al. 2024. The arterial blood sampling associated with PET imaging studies can lead to post-scan complications in Göttingen minipigs. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Science 50, 6–12.

Influence of deep-litter bedding materials on environmental and welfare-related factors in boar studs

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for artificial insemination (AI) centers to procure high-quality bedding materials. The aim of this study was to investigate influences of bedding materials on selected environmental and welfare-related aspects in breeding boars. Including...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Riedel, A., Pieper, L., Lautner, M. et al. 2024. Influence of deep-litter bedding materials on environmental and welfare-related factors in boar studs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 273, 106215.

Utilization of enrichment objects by growing pigs in a commercial facility and the impact on behavior and skin lesions

Environmental enrichment is a way to provide growing pigs with a complex environment to explore and occupy themselves as they grow. Single point enrichment can provide some complexity to the environment while not having the drawbacks of substrate enrichment, including...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Smith, K. C., Pierdon, M. K. 2024. Utilization of enrichment objects by growing pigs in a commercial facility and the impact on behavior and skin lesions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 272, 106181.

Social sham chewing in sows?

In this short communication, we describe chewing behaviour in sows with no apparent edible substrate in their mouth as a potential social behaviour. Chewing in sows during interaction with unfamiliar sows was unexpectedly observed in a study assessing social abilities...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Anderson, C., Backeman Hannius, L. M., De Oliveira, D. et al. 2024. Social sham chewing in sows? Behavioural Processes 218, 105042.

The protective effect of social support: Can humans reassure pigs during stressful challenges through social learning?

Farm animals can socially learn to trust a human after observing that human handling a familiar conspecific gently, even if they never positively interacted with the human themselves. This study aimed to evaluate whether pigs are reassured by a human...

Year Published: 2024Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Luna, D., Calderón-Amor, J., González, C. et al. 2024. The protective effect of social support: Can humans reassure pigs during stressful challenges through social learning? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 273, 106221.

An effective environmental enrichment framework for the continual improvement of production animal welfare

Substrates and objects are provided to farm animals on the assumption that they improve animal welfare by enriching the environment, but these often fail to consider the extent to which an environmental enrichment (EE) improves animal welfare, if at all....

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cattle, Chicken, Equine, Fowl, Goat, Pig, Sheep

Citation: Taylor, P. S., Schrobback, P., Verdon, M. et al. 2023. An effective environmental enrichment framework for the continual improvement of production animal welfare. Animal Welfare 32, e14.