Two separate, independent trials (n=40 pigs each, 5 pigs/pen) were carried out to investigate the effects of innovative enrichment devices on some welfare aspects of Italian heavy pigs. In Trial 1, 20 pigs received a hanging metal chain (C1) as environmental enrichment, and 20 received wood logs (WL) placed inside a metal rack installed on one side of the pen. In Trial 2, 20 pigs received a metal chain (C2) whereas the other 20 received a specifically formulated edible block (EB) placed inside the same metal rack described above. Pigs were left undocked and enrichments were always available through the entire growing-finishing period (up to 160kg, when pigs were slaughtered). Skin and tail lesions were periodically assessed on farm according to the Welfare Quality® protocol. The severity of gastric lesions was macroscopically scored on a 0-to-6 scale. Data were submitted to analysis of variance using environmental enrichment as the main effect. In both trials, skin lesions did not differ between groups, but tail lesions were slightly more severe in WL if compared to C1 group (score 1.24 vs. 1.11, P<0,05). Although all animals were clinically healthy, gastric lesions did not differ in Trial 1 whereas in Trial 2 they were more severe in EB compared to C2 group (score 4.2 vs. 3.2, P<0,001). Our results show that wood logs have a lower effect against tail biting than metal chains. Besides, further studies on the block formulation and administration will be necessary due to the gastric lesions observed in Trial 2. Two separate, independent trials (n=40 pigs each, 5 pigs/pen) were carried out to investigate the effects of innovative enrichment devices on some welfare aspects of Italian heavy pigs. In Trial 1, 20 pigs received a hanging metal chain (C1) as environmental enrichment, and 20 received wood logs (WL) placed inside a metal rack installed on one side of the pen. In Trial 2, 20 pigs received a metal chain (C2) whereas the other 20 received a specifically formulated edible block (EB) placed inside the same metal rack described above. Pigs were left undocked and enrichments were always available through the entire growing-finishing period (up to 160kg, when pigs were slaughtered). Skin and tail lesions were periodically assessed on farm according to the Welfare Quality® protocol. The severity of gastric lesions was macroscopically scored on a 0-to-6 scale. Data were submitted to analysis of variance using environmental enrichment as the main effect. In both trials, skin lesions did not differ between groups, but tail lesions were slightly more severe in WL if compared to C1 group (score 1.24 vs. 1.11, P<0,05). Although all animals were clinically healthy, gastric lesions did not differ in Trial 1 whereas in Trial 2 they were more severe in EB compared to C2 group (score 4.2 vs. 3.2, P<0,001). Our results show that wood logs have a lower effect against tail biting than metal chains. Besides, further studies on the block formulation and administration will be necessary due to the gastric lesions observed in Trial 2. The research was funded by Progetto AGER, grant n°2011-0280
Nannoni, E., Martelli, G., Peli, A., Vitali, M., Roccaro, M., Bassi, P., et al. (2017). A study on ante- and post-mortem lesions of Italian heavy pigs receiving different environmental enrichment tools.
A study on ante- and post-mortem lesions of Italian heavy pigs receiving different environmental enrichment tools
NANNONI, ELEONORA;MARTELLI, GIOVANNA;PELI, ANGELO;VITALI, MARIKA;ROCCARO, MARIANA;BASSI, PATRIZIA;MILITERNO, GIANFRANCO;SARDI, LUCA
2017
Abstract
Two separate, independent trials (n=40 pigs each, 5 pigs/pen) were carried out to investigate the effects of innovative enrichment devices on some welfare aspects of Italian heavy pigs. In Trial 1, 20 pigs received a hanging metal chain (C1) as environmental enrichment, and 20 received wood logs (WL) placed inside a metal rack installed on one side of the pen. In Trial 2, 20 pigs received a metal chain (C2) whereas the other 20 received a specifically formulated edible block (EB) placed inside the same metal rack described above. Pigs were left undocked and enrichments were always available through the entire growing-finishing period (up to 160kg, when pigs were slaughtered). Skin and tail lesions were periodically assessed on farm according to the Welfare Quality® protocol. The severity of gastric lesions was macroscopically scored on a 0-to-6 scale. Data were submitted to analysis of variance using environmental enrichment as the main effect. In both trials, skin lesions did not differ between groups, but tail lesions were slightly more severe in WL if compared to C1 group (score 1.24 vs. 1.11, P<0,05). Although all animals were clinically healthy, gastric lesions did not differ in Trial 1 whereas in Trial 2 they were more severe in EB compared to C2 group (score 4.2 vs. 3.2, P<0,001). Our results show that wood logs have a lower effect against tail biting than metal chains. Besides, further studies on the block formulation and administration will be necessary due to the gastric lesions observed in Trial 2. Two separate, independent trials (n=40 pigs each, 5 pigs/pen) were carried out to investigate the effects of innovative enrichment devices on some welfare aspects of Italian heavy pigs. In Trial 1, 20 pigs received a hanging metal chain (C1) as environmental enrichment, and 20 received wood logs (WL) placed inside a metal rack installed on one side of the pen. In Trial 2, 20 pigs received a metal chain (C2) whereas the other 20 received a specifically formulated edible block (EB) placed inside the same metal rack described above. Pigs were left undocked and enrichments were always available through the entire growing-finishing period (up to 160kg, when pigs were slaughtered). Skin and tail lesions were periodically assessed on farm according to the Welfare Quality® protocol. The severity of gastric lesions was macroscopically scored on a 0-to-6 scale. Data were submitted to analysis of variance using environmental enrichment as the main effect. In both trials, skin lesions did not differ between groups, but tail lesions were slightly more severe in WL if compared to C1 group (score 1.24 vs. 1.11, P<0,05). Although all animals were clinically healthy, gastric lesions did not differ in Trial 1 whereas in Trial 2 they were more severe in EB compared to C2 group (score 4.2 vs. 3.2, P<0,001). Our results show that wood logs have a lower effect against tail biting than metal chains. Besides, further studies on the block formulation and administration will be necessary due to the gastric lesions observed in Trial 2. The research was funded by Progetto AGER, grant n°2011-0280I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
