The effects of environmental enrichment on the physiology, behaviour, productivity and meat quality of pigs raised in a hot climate
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Author
Fàbrega, Emma
Marcet-Rius, Míriam
Vidal, Roger
Escribano, Damián
Cerón, José Joaquín
Manteca, Xavier
Publication date
2019-05-13ISSN
2076-2615
Abstract
European Union (EU) legislation states that the routine tail docking of pigs should not be carried out and that manipulable materials should be made available to all pigs to prevent tail biting and allow them to behave naturally. However, between 90 and 95% of pigs within the EU still have their tails docked to avoid the risk of tail biting. Farmers say they require information tailored to their particular production systems before they abandon this practice. In this study, four types of enrichment materials used in Spanish pig fattening production systems are compared. Most of these systems have fully slatted floors and high external temperatures for considerable periods of the year. The effects of chains (the control group), wood, paper or straw in a rack on the behaviour, health/physiology, performance and meat and carcass quality are evaluated. Straw in a rack was found to be the best material to meet the behavioural needs of pigs, whereas paper met the criteria of being manipulable, but only for a short period. To avoid the risk of blockages in the slurry system, there are some practical issues to consider and improvements to be made to the design of the rack for providing straw used in this study.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
636 - Animal husbandry and breeding in general. Livestock rearing. Breeding of domestic animals
Pages
21
Publisher
MDPI
Is part of
Animals
Citation
Fàbrega, Marcet-Rius, Vidal, Escribano, Cerón, Manteca, and Velarde. 2019. "The Effects Of Environmental Enrichment On The Physiology, Behaviour, Productivity And Meat Quality Of Pigs Raised In A Hot Climate". Animals 9 (5): 235. MDPI AG. doi:10.3390/ani9050235.
Grant agreement number
MINECO/Programa Estatal de I+D+I orientada a los retos de la sociedad/AGL2015-68373-C2-2-R/ES/Bienestar animal y viabilidad económica en explotacions intensivas de porcino y bovino/Retowell
Program
Benestar Animal
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2831]
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/