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Animals
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The Importance of Sow Behaviour on Reproductive Outcomes
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The Importance of Sow Behaviour on Reproductive Outcomes

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Pigs".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 6340

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Emma Greenwood

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Animal and Veterinary Science, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA, Australia
Interests: sow behaviour; group housing; hierarchy; welfare; housing; enrichment; neonatal microbiome; microbiome manipulation
Dr. William Van Wettere

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Interests: nutritional status; ovarian function; oocyte developmental; infertility; housing strategies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Meeting the welfare and behavioural needs of pigs, whilst maintaining production targets, is a challenge for the pig industry. Despite the growing interest in the area of behaviour and welfare, it is still unclear whether the ability or inability of sows to display natural behaviours impacts on reproductive outputs and, therefore, the success of meeting production targets. Could it be that intensification of our farming methods, originally designed to assist in reaching production targets, has been working against the natural mechanisms of the animals we farm? Therefore, more research on sow behaviour, the relation of behavioural aspects to stress and welfare and production outcomes of these animals needs to be explored. This Special Issue will illuminate current research and new insights into the behaviour and welfare of domestic sows and the effects of this behaviour on reproductive outcomes.

Dr. Emma Greenwood 
Dr. William Van Wettere
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sow
  • reproduction
  • behaviour
  • animal welfare
  • health
  • stress
  • production

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2085 KiB  
Article
Synthetic Olfactory Agonist Use in the Farrowing House to Reduce Sow Distress and Improve Piglet Survival
by Robyn Terry, Tanya L. Nowland, William H. E. J. van Wettere and Kate J. Plush
Animals 2021, 11(9), 2613; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092613 - 6 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2411
Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate if the application of a synthetic olfactory agonist (SOA) would reduce indicators of stress in sows, in response to a stressor prior to parturition, and if it would improve farrowing house performance of sows and [...] Read more.
The aim of the study was to investigate if the application of a synthetic olfactory agonist (SOA) would reduce indicators of stress in sows, in response to a stressor prior to parturition, and if it would improve farrowing house performance of sows and their piglets. Two studies were conducted: an intensive study with 47 sows, either having their first or second litter (Control n = 24; SOA n = 23); and a commercial validation study with 418 sows, either having their first litter or have had multiple litters (Control n = 210; SOA n = 208). Within the intensive study, sows were housed with or without a synthetic olfactory agonist suspended in the creep area of the farrowing crate, whereas within the commercial validation study, sows were housed with or without a synthetic olfactory agonist suspended over the adjoining creep area of two farrowing crates. Within the intensive study, despite a discernible increase in cortisol concentration in response to a stressor (snout rope test), cortisol response was not different between treatments (p > 0.05). Farrowing duration in first-litter sows exposed to the SOA was decreased (p < 0.001) whilst there was no impact on farrowing duration in second litter sows. Piglets were not attracted by the SOA to increase their utilisation of the creep area and spent more time in proximity to the sow (p < 0.05). Within the commercial validation study, no impacts were seen on piglet production measures (p > 0.05). Largely the use of an SOA within the farrowing house did not impact the sow or her piglets in either the intensive study or commercial validation study. Based on these current results, the use of SOA within the farrowing house is not supported. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Importance of Sow Behaviour on Reproductive Outcomes)
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12 pages, 852 KiB  
Article
Behavioral Observation Procedures and Tests to Characterize the Suitability of Sows for Loose-Housed Farrowing Systems
by Julia Neu, Nina Göres, Jelena Kecman, Barbara Voß, Frank Rosner, Hermann H. Swalve and Nicole Kemper
Animals 2021, 11(9), 2547; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092547 - 30 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2845
Abstract
The objective of the study was to evaluate behavioral observation procedures and tests to characterize sows’ behavior for their suitability for free farrowing systems. Nest building activity (NB), lying-down behavior (LDB), and position after lying down (PLD) were assessed. Four tests were designed [...] Read more.
The objective of the study was to evaluate behavioral observation procedures and tests to characterize sows’ behavior for their suitability for free farrowing systems. Nest building activity (NB), lying-down behavior (LDB), and position after lying down (PLD) were assessed. Four tests were designed to characterize the reaction of sows to a novel object and an unexpected situation (Towel Test, TT), behavior towards humans (Dummy Arm Test, DAT; Trough Cleaning Test, TCT), and behavior towards piglets (Reunion Test, RT). The study was performed on a nucleus farm in 37 batches including 771 purebred landrace sows housed in farrowing pens with short-term fixation. The assessment of NB started 2 days before the expected date of the farrowing. In 56.2% of the observations, the sows showed increased chewing activity on gunnysacks. The LDB and PLD were assessed on days 3 and 19 post partum (p.p.). In 49.1% of the observations, sows showed careful lying-down behavior. In 50.1% of cases, sows preferred the stomach-teats-position when lying down. With the DAT on day 4 p.p., in 89.3% of observations, no or only slight reactions of the sow were documented. The TT and TCT were performed on days 3 and 10 p.p. Strong defensive reactions of animals towards humans were recorded in 4.5% of the observations in the TT, and in 4.0% of the observations in the TCT. In the RT on day 3 p.p., in 61.8%, a joyful response of the sows to the reunion with their piglets was observed. This study showed that the behavioral observation procedures and designed tests are suitable to characterize sows’ behavior towards humans and piglets with regard to traits that are particularly important in systems without fixation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Importance of Sow Behaviour on Reproductive Outcomes)
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