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Evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs

The aim of this study was to analyse spontaneous play behaviour in litters of domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) for sources of variation at individual and litter levels and to relate variation in play to measures of pre and postnatal development. Seven litters of commercially bred piglets (n = 70) were bor...

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Autores principales: Brown, Sarah Mills, Klaffenböck, Michael, Nevison, Ian Macleod, Lawrence, Alistair Burnett
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4768079/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26937060
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2015.09.007
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author Brown, Sarah Mills
Klaffenböck, Michael
Nevison, Ian Macleod
Lawrence, Alistair Burnett
author_facet Brown, Sarah Mills
Klaffenböck, Michael
Nevison, Ian Macleod
Lawrence, Alistair Burnett
author_sort Brown, Sarah Mills
collection PubMed
description The aim of this study was to analyse spontaneous play behaviour in litters of domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) for sources of variation at individual and litter levels and to relate variation in play to measures of pre and postnatal development. Seven litters of commercially bred piglets (n = 70) were born (farrowed) within a penning system (PigSAFE) that provided opportunities for the performance of spontaneous play behaviours. Individual behaviour was scored based on an established play ethogram for 2 days per week over the 3 week study period. We found strong evidence of litter differences in play behaviour (F((6,63)) = 27.30, p < 0.001). Of the variance in total play, 50% was attributable to differences between litters with a lesser proportion (11%) to between piglets within litters. We found similar evidence of litter differences when we analysed the separate play categories (e.g. for locomotor play: F((6,63)) = 27.50, p < 0.001). For social and locomotor play the variance was partitioned in a broadly similar way to total play; however for object play the variance was distributed with a more even balance across and within litters. In terms of explanatory factors we found little evidence that at the litter level differences in play were associated with differences in general activity. Of the prenatal factors measured, we found that birth weight was positively associated with total play and the play categories (e.g. with total play: F((1,64)) = 12.8, p < 0.001). We also found that postnatal piglet growth up to weaning (as a percentage of birth weight) had a significant positive association with total play and the play categories (e.g. with object play: F((1,66)) = 20.55, p < 0.001). As found in other studies, on average males engaged in more social play (e.g. non-injurious play fighting: F((1,63)) = 39.8, p < 0.001). Males also initiated more play bouts on average than females (F((1,62)) = 4.41, p = 0.040). We conclude that the study of differences between litters and individuals provides a robust approach to understanding factors potentially influencing play behaviour in the pig. This work also provides support for the use of play as a welfare indicator in pre-weaned piglets as the litter differences in play we observed were associated positively with physical development.
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spelling pubmed-47680792016-02-29 Evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs Brown, Sarah Mills Klaffenböck, Michael Nevison, Ian Macleod Lawrence, Alistair Burnett Appl Anim Behav Sci Article The aim of this study was to analyse spontaneous play behaviour in litters of domestic pigs (Sus scrofa) for sources of variation at individual and litter levels and to relate variation in play to measures of pre and postnatal development. Seven litters of commercially bred piglets (n = 70) were born (farrowed) within a penning system (PigSAFE) that provided opportunities for the performance of spontaneous play behaviours. Individual behaviour was scored based on an established play ethogram for 2 days per week over the 3 week study period. We found strong evidence of litter differences in play behaviour (F((6,63)) = 27.30, p < 0.001). Of the variance in total play, 50% was attributable to differences between litters with a lesser proportion (11%) to between piglets within litters. We found similar evidence of litter differences when we analysed the separate play categories (e.g. for locomotor play: F((6,63)) = 27.50, p < 0.001). For social and locomotor play the variance was partitioned in a broadly similar way to total play; however for object play the variance was distributed with a more even balance across and within litters. In terms of explanatory factors we found little evidence that at the litter level differences in play were associated with differences in general activity. Of the prenatal factors measured, we found that birth weight was positively associated with total play and the play categories (e.g. with total play: F((1,64)) = 12.8, p < 0.001). We also found that postnatal piglet growth up to weaning (as a percentage of birth weight) had a significant positive association with total play and the play categories (e.g. with object play: F((1,66)) = 20.55, p < 0.001). As found in other studies, on average males engaged in more social play (e.g. non-injurious play fighting: F((1,63)) = 39.8, p < 0.001). Males also initiated more play bouts on average than females (F((1,62)) = 4.41, p = 0.040). We conclude that the study of differences between litters and individuals provides a robust approach to understanding factors potentially influencing play behaviour in the pig. This work also provides support for the use of play as a welfare indicator in pre-weaned piglets as the litter differences in play we observed were associated positively with physical development. Elsevier 2015-11 /pmc/articles/PMC4768079/ /pubmed/26937060 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2015.09.007 Text en © 2015 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Brown, Sarah Mills
Klaffenböck, Michael
Nevison, Ian Macleod
Lawrence, Alistair Burnett
Evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs
title Evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs
title_full Evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs
title_fullStr Evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs
title_full_unstemmed Evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs
title_short Evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs
title_sort evidence for litter differences in play behaviour in pre-weaned pigs
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4768079/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26937060
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2015.09.007
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