Swine Behaviour

Question 1

what are 4 key facts about pigs?

Answer 1

polytocous
precocial
omnivorous
olfactory is a primary sense

Question 2

how is a pigs vision?

Answer 2

not great
310 degrees
monocular
move towards the light - using natural behaviours in intensive farming

Question 3

do they have good hearing

Answer 3

they can hear higher pitches than humans

Question 4

what is their vocabulary

Answer 4

grunts, squeaks, barks and screams
depends on context

Question 5

what is a souder

Answer 5

a group of wild pigs
made up of related females and offspring (males travel together to find souders)
eat anything and spend 70% of the time foraging

Question 6

what is the weaning time for wild pigs

Answer 6

12-16 weeks

Question 7

are wild pigs prey or predator

Answer 7

predators, they dont have many natural predators
(on farm they are prey)

Question 8

where are wild boar originally from

Answer 8

europe for specialty meat
they got loose, escaped - and now are invasive species

Question 9

when did pigs get domesticated?

Answer 9

10500 years ago

Question 10

did domestication change their behaviour

Answer 10

there has been a change in genetics but they still present natural behaviours

Question 11

what is the pig park experiement

Answer 11

wood-gush, stolba and Newberry
released domestic pigs into a wild ennvironment

Question 12

what was witness in the pig park experiement

Answer 12

rooting, exploring and foraging
separate area for dunging and nesting
play behaviour

Question 13

what are the biggest mistakes during pig handling

Answer 13

over prodding
over crowding

Question 14

what do farmers need to consider

Answer 14

their natural behaviours

Question 15

what factor influences their susceptibility to heat stress?

Answer 15

their small hearts
vasodilation - drop in BP - increase heart rate - heart failure

Question 16

what is porcine stress syndrome

Answer 16

acute stress response - negatively influences meat quality/ economic return
common problem in 1980s genetic marker identified in 1991
testing and selection have eliminated the problem

Question 17

what is a barren environment

Answer 17

the difference between wild and intensive
- wild has exploration, foraging and social relationships
- intensive is considered barren because its on concrete or hard plastic and slatted floors with some form of enrichment
- they dont have natural behaviours and dont get to change behaviours often

Question 18

why do we care if an environment is barren?

Answer 18

-causes psychological effects - borden and frustration
- abnormal behaviours (steriotipies)
- damaging behaviours - belly nosing, tail biting and pen-mate manipulation

Question 19

how can we measure stress responses?

Answer 19

observing behaviour, vocalizations
social interactions( negative or positive)
postures
activity ( awake, inactive, pen exploration)

Question 20

what is the NOT

Answer 20

novel object test - exploration and fear

Question 21

what is OFT

Answer 21

open field test - exploration and fear

Question 22

what is RIT

Answer 22

resident - intruder test - agression

Question 23

when did intensive agriculture take off

Answer 23

the industrial revolution
less labour from WWII but still needed to increase production
it was not designed with animal welfare involved

Question 24

why are farrowing crates important?

Answer 24

reduce crushing and simplify health checks and feeding

Question 24

what changed to make animal welfare more important?

Answer 24

behavioural and physical needs of an animal influences production

Question 25

what are the 7 major welfare issues

Answer 25

1. farrowing creates
2. castration
3. tail docking
4. stall housing
   5 barren environment
5. mixing
6. transport

Question 26

why are farrowing crates issues for sows

Answer 26

frustration
loonger birthing intervals
greater chance of stillborns

Question 26

what wild behaviours are restricted through farrowing crates

Answer 26

sows leave groups to farrow
nest building

Question 27

why is the problem surrounding pain management for tail docking

Answer 27

pain management doesn’t have time to work

Question 28

why castrate

Answer 28

boar taint and aggression
alternatives? - testing

Question 29

why tail dock

Answer 29

reduce chance of tail biting
alternatives - removing agressive pigs
replace behaviour by changin the environment

Question 30

when do intensive pigs wean?

Answer 30

21-28 days

Question 31

What is an issue with early weening?

Answer 31

abrupt - all piglets removed from pens, moved to a new room
moved in groups of up to 100
early mixing with unfarmiliar piglets

Question 32

what is the problem with stall housing

Answer 32

restricted freedom of movement - freedom to perform normal behaviours
bordem and frustration - development of abnormal behaviours

Question 33

who has new codes

Answer 33

gestation sows
breeding sows
farrowing sows
teaser boars

Question 35

why do pigs fight when they are mixed? how do they maintain this?

Answer 35

dominance hierarchies
- with avoidance behaviours and extreme agression

Question 36

Is mixing aggression a natural behaviour?

Answer 36

no, souders do not normally interact, mixing aggression relatively uncommon

Question 37

when do mixing events occur in intensive systems?

Answer 37

weaning
to grow-finish pens
sorting based on weight
shipping to abattoir
lairage

Question 38

what are temperature challenges unique to canada?

Answer 38

• long distances
• wide ranges in temperature
• extreme colds - hyperthermia and frost bite or heat stroke

Question 39

what causes stress in transport

Answer 39

ramps
electric prods
unfarmiliar hallways and walkways
temperature / humidity
unfarmiliar smells and sounds
new stock people

Question 40

what are some current research areas in ethology in swine

Answer 40

effects of periodic enricment on different life stages
play can indicate physiological and psychological robustness in pigs
animal base post mortem indicators
creating and validating a one step electrocution euthanasia