PLoS One. 2016 Dec 1;11(12):e0167363. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0167363. eCollection 2016.
- 1Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, Brazil.
- 2Department
of Animal Nutrition and Production, School of Veterinary Medicine and
Animal Science, University of São Paulo, Pirassununga, Brazil.
Abstract
Aggressive
interactions, and their consequences, are the most important causes of
poor welfare in piglets. Aggressive behaviour can be modulated by the
prenatal and neonatal environment
in several species. Commercially kept pregnant sows are often subjected
to food restriction, which can compromise their welfare. Limited
information is available on the consequences of sow hunger during
pregnancy on welfare outcomes for their piglets. High fibre diets can
mitigate the feeling of hunger and, consequently, it may improve welfare
and productivity measures. The aim of this study was to assess the
consequences of feeding pregnant gilts with high fibre diets (HFD) on
agonistic behaviour, as manifested by skin lesions, and indicators of
fear in their piglets at weaning. Twenty-two pregnant gilts were fed
either HFD, 12.86% of crude fibre, 2.4 kg per day (N = 14), or low fibre
diet (LFD), 2.53% of crude fibre, 2.0 kg per day (N = 8). During
lactation, both treatments received the same diet, ad libitum. We
investigated the impact of HFD on behaviour and performance measures
(birth weight, average daily gain, weaning weight, see S3 File) in the
offspring. Skin lesions were evaluated before and after weaning in 156
piglets (100 HFD and 56 LFD), and 142 piglets were subjected to an open
field test and a novel object test (87 HFD and 55 LFD). We found no
treatment effect on the performance measures. Piglets born from gilts
that received HFD had fewer skin lesions before weaning (D28) than the
offspring of LFD gilts, while no difference was found during days 29 and
30. In the open field and novel object tests, there was no treatment
effect on the behaviour of piglets. The improved skin health at weaning
in piglets of sows fed HFD suggests less agonistic interactions amongst
these littermates than in piglets of sows fed LFD.
- [PubMed - in process]
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