Abstracts - Management

Biological sex mediates, at least in part, the physiological response to heat stress.

Frequent emission of short sounds can reduce time spent sleeping and cause behavior changes. However, gestating sows can habituate to the sound stimuli and return to normal behavior.

Enrichment did not enhance the speed of recovery from challenges in pigs, although there were indications of reduced stress

The provision of nesting material to sows prior to farrowing can increase sow maternal care traits and piglet performance.

Environmental enrichment with cubes appears to have the greatest effect when applied post-weaning whereas flavor attractants appear to have the greatest effect when applied both pre- and post-weaning.

Results suggest that drying piglets at birth is an effective method to reduce rectal temperature decline in the early postnatal period, especially for low birth weight piglets.

The use of cortisone and the estimation of 11β-HSD type 2 activity in hair is recommended instead of using hair cortisol concentrations alone.

Results indicate that the pain-related behaviors in pigs from the UPAPS have different statistical weights.

Early intermittent neonatal maternal separation created stress and affected the growth performance of piglets during suckling. However, the growth rate was improved by compensatory measures during late weaning.

Findings may explain numerically lower pregnancy and farrowing rates in sows mixed two days post-service.

The jute material and piglet nests positively impacted sow welfare and piglet measures but did not translate into improved piglet survival.

These findings highlight the complexities involved when forming social preferences and present a platform for further exploring the motivations for preferential associations among intensively farmed pigs.

Heritability estimates for all studied traits suggest they could be suitable as a method of phenotyping aggression and fear/boldness for genetic selection purposes.

Physical and ambient conditions affecting pen and pig cleanliness and air quality.

Resilience to weaning stress was associated with behavioral differences in finishing gilts at mixing and when faced with novel situations.

Group housing gestating sows 2 days after breeding compromised litter size; however, mixing gilts on days 1 to 4 after breeding did not impair reproductive performance.

Results show the importance of differentiating between low viable and viable crushed piglets for the interpretation of risk factors for crushing losses.

The metal hut appears to be the best compromise considering thermal environment, behavior, and litter survival.

Castrated piglets treated with transdermal flunixin demonstrated lower total pain scores and required less analgesic intervention immediately post-castration compared to castrated piglets receiving no treatment.

A similar M. hyopneumoniae detection pattern was observed regardless of gilt flow.

The live-born piglets of sows that were more active the day before farrowing, standing and in other activity than drinking and eating, had higher survival rates.

Lift crate sows evidenced an increase in hair cortisol values along with the benefit of the higher survival rate of piglets before weaning.

Floor feeding large pellet creep feed starting 4 days preweaning improved nursery pig growth performance and fallout rates.