There is no evidence yet that housing treatments meant to stimulate play reduces reactivity in piglets under stressful Challenges
A recent session on ‘Building a Rugged Pig,’ Held by Guelph University’s CCSAW, examine the complexity of breeding pigs for Robustness in their Environment.
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Speaker Jamie Ahloy Dallaire, Associate Professor of Farm Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Laval University, Looked at Ways to Increase Robustness Which He described as “Capacity to Face Challenges and to be minimally affected by them.”
He said one approaches is to improve welfare by modifying the environment to better fit in animal; Conversly Though, A Complementary Approach is to make the animal a better fit to the surroundings.
The Later Would includes Personality and Genetics. He Sugged Possible Breeding Pigs to Be Happy by Selecting For Well-Being, which is a phenotype.
Research has looked at ways to assess pig personality and genetics with the use of automated apparatus. Also, it looks at voluntary action by piglets in their home thought. Another Way was to Evaluate Welfare when a Human Approached the Piglets.
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His conclusion related to Personality and Genetics was that complementary welfare indicators suggest individual diffrements are stable and robust to change in housing at the start and end of enrichment.
Dallaire Said Further Testing was needed with older animals, possibly for length Periods, or in Physically Protected Trials, and That Behavioural Phenotype for Selection Requires Automated Data Collection.
When it cams to early-life positive experience, the Research Looked at play as a way to train pigs to cope with axpect, Dangerous situations. This play preparation could be both physical and emotional.
These ideas have been studied as it relates to calves as well, and research is continuing with those farm animals.
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The hypothesis is that a more robust pig wow be less impact by stressful situations like moving to new housing or being transport. And these we tested.
He noted the question Arises where a more Robust Pigs Are More Playful Already So Handle New Challenges More Easily.
His conclusions include that there is “No Evidence that housing treatments meant to stimulate play reduces reactivity in piglets under stressful challenge; that individual differences are somewhat stable in transport and insulation tests; and that the results are pending on effects of play and the interval between challenges. ”
Dallaire also Did Testing to Determine Whhet Housing Types And/Or Husbandry Treatments Designed to Improve Social Dynamics Might Increase A Pig’s Resistance to Infectious Disease.
There wers some indicators of Higher Robustness with respect to health with socialization and housing enrichment, According to His Findings.
How to build a More Robust Pig Remains The Goal of Ongoing Studies.
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