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Effects of a Multi-Suckling System Combined With Enriched Housing Post-Weaning on Response and Cognitive Resilience to Isolation

Improving welfare is still a critical issue in pig husbandry. Upgrades of the housing environment seem to be a promising solution to optimise resilience as a whole, and therefore improve animal welfare. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an alternative housing system to enhanc...

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Autores principales: Parois, Severine P., Van Der Zande, Lisette E., Knol, Egbert F., Kemp, Bas, Rodenburg, T. Bas, Bolhuis, J. Elizabeth
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35478601
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.868149
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author Parois, Severine P.
Van Der Zande, Lisette E.
Knol, Egbert F.
Kemp, Bas
Rodenburg, T. Bas
Bolhuis, J. Elizabeth
author_facet Parois, Severine P.
Van Der Zande, Lisette E.
Knol, Egbert F.
Kemp, Bas
Rodenburg, T. Bas
Bolhuis, J. Elizabeth
author_sort Parois, Severine P.
collection PubMed
description Improving welfare is still a critical issue in pig husbandry. Upgrades of the housing environment seem to be a promising solution to optimise resilience as a whole, and therefore improve animal welfare. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an alternative housing system to enhance cognitive resilience and also to promote the pigs' welfare. A total of 96 piglets from two contrasted housing systems [alternative housing system (AHS) vs. conventional system (CONV)] was used. The major upgrades of the alternative system were multi-litter housing during lactation, delayed weaning, extra space allowance, and environmental enrichment from birth onwards. To estimate welfare, weight, and feed intake (as a general indicator of performances), the tear staining area (as a chronic stress indicator), behavioural postures, heart rate traits, and saliva cortisol concentration were measured over a 21 h-isolation. To assess cognitive resilience, the pigs were subjected to a maze with a social reward both before and after the isolation challenge and indicators of cognitive abilities were followed. The AHS pigs showed lower cortisol levels and tear staining area before the challenge, demonstrating overall better welfare due to the alternative housing conditions. During the challenge, AHS pigs had a lower heart rate, higher heart rate variability, and higher vagal activity than the CONV pigs, which might indicate a reduced sensitivity to the stressor. AHS pigs appeared to have a better long-term memory tested in a maze. Providing social and environmental enrichments, that fit the satisfaction of the essential needs of the pigs better, appears to be beneficial for pig welfare as a whole. Its effects on cognitive resilience still need to be proven.
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spelling pubmed-90359942022-04-26 Effects of a Multi-Suckling System Combined With Enriched Housing Post-Weaning on Response and Cognitive Resilience to Isolation Parois, Severine P. Van Der Zande, Lisette E. Knol, Egbert F. Kemp, Bas Rodenburg, T. Bas Bolhuis, J. Elizabeth Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science Improving welfare is still a critical issue in pig husbandry. Upgrades of the housing environment seem to be a promising solution to optimise resilience as a whole, and therefore improve animal welfare. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an alternative housing system to enhance cognitive resilience and also to promote the pigs' welfare. A total of 96 piglets from two contrasted housing systems [alternative housing system (AHS) vs. conventional system (CONV)] was used. The major upgrades of the alternative system were multi-litter housing during lactation, delayed weaning, extra space allowance, and environmental enrichment from birth onwards. To estimate welfare, weight, and feed intake (as a general indicator of performances), the tear staining area (as a chronic stress indicator), behavioural postures, heart rate traits, and saliva cortisol concentration were measured over a 21 h-isolation. To assess cognitive resilience, the pigs were subjected to a maze with a social reward both before and after the isolation challenge and indicators of cognitive abilities were followed. The AHS pigs showed lower cortisol levels and tear staining area before the challenge, demonstrating overall better welfare due to the alternative housing conditions. During the challenge, AHS pigs had a lower heart rate, higher heart rate variability, and higher vagal activity than the CONV pigs, which might indicate a reduced sensitivity to the stressor. AHS pigs appeared to have a better long-term memory tested in a maze. Providing social and environmental enrichments, that fit the satisfaction of the essential needs of the pigs better, appears to be beneficial for pig welfare as a whole. Its effects on cognitive resilience still need to be proven. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-04-11 /pmc/articles/PMC9035994/ /pubmed/35478601 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.868149 Text en Copyright © 2022 Parois, Van Der Zande, Knol, Kemp, Rodenburg and Bolhuis. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Parois, Severine P.
Van Der Zande, Lisette E.
Knol, Egbert F.
Kemp, Bas
Rodenburg, T. Bas
Bolhuis, J. Elizabeth
Effects of a Multi-Suckling System Combined With Enriched Housing Post-Weaning on Response and Cognitive Resilience to Isolation
title Effects of a Multi-Suckling System Combined With Enriched Housing Post-Weaning on Response and Cognitive Resilience to Isolation
title_full Effects of a Multi-Suckling System Combined With Enriched Housing Post-Weaning on Response and Cognitive Resilience to Isolation
title_fullStr Effects of a Multi-Suckling System Combined With Enriched Housing Post-Weaning on Response and Cognitive Resilience to Isolation
title_full_unstemmed Effects of a Multi-Suckling System Combined With Enriched Housing Post-Weaning on Response and Cognitive Resilience to Isolation
title_short Effects of a Multi-Suckling System Combined With Enriched Housing Post-Weaning on Response and Cognitive Resilience to Isolation
title_sort effects of a multi-suckling system combined with enriched housing post-weaning on response and cognitive resilience to isolation
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35478601
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.868149
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