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The effects of food level on general activity and aggression in dynamic groups of 30 sows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

H.A.M. Spoolder ,
J.A. Burbidge ,
A.B. Lawrence ,
P.H. Simmins  and
S.A. Edwards
H.A.M. Spoolder
Affiliation:
ADAS Terrington, Terrington St. Clement, King's Lynn, PE34 4PW SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG
J.A. Burbidge
Affiliation:
ADAS Terrington, Terrington St. Clement, King's Lynn, PE34 4PW SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG
A.B. Lawrence
Affiliation:
SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG
P.H. Simmins
Affiliation:
ADAS Terrington, Terrington St. Clement, King's Lynn, PE34 4PW
S.A. Edwards
Affiliation:
SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG
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Extract

Aggression in group housed sows is often related to competition over food. Sequential feeding avoids the confrontations at the trough, but puts them at the feeder entrance. Studies of large groups of dry sows using computerised feeding systems showed that vulva biting was most frequent after visits when only a small amount of food had been dispensed (Buré, 1991). This suggests that frustrated feeding motivation may cause increased aggression. A Swedish survey into group housed sows found a link between sow condition and mean injury scores: farms averaging a high injury score had a larger proportion of thin sows (Svendsen et al., 1990). The present study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that in large dynamic groups of sows a high food level results in lower levels of aggression and associated skin lesions.

Type
Pig Behaviour
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1995 , March 1995 , pp. 31
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1995

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References

Buré, R.G. 1991. The influence on vulva biting of supplying additional roughage in an electronic sow feeder.Proceedings of the 42nd annual meeting of the EAAP, Berlin 1991. Google Scholar
Spoolder, H.A.M., Burbidge, J. A., Lawrence, A.B., Simmins, P.H. and Edwards, S.A. Provision of straw as a foraging substrate reduces the development of excessive chain and bar manipulation in food restricted sows. Accepted for publication in Applied Animal Behaviour Science.Google Scholar
Svendsen, J., Andersson, M., Olsson, A.C, Rantzen, D. and Lundqvist, P. 1990. Group housing of sows in gestation in insulated and uninsulated buildings. Report 66 of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.Google Scholar