Effects of tryptophan supplementation on aggression among group-housed gestating sows
Tryptophan supplementation does not reduce aggression in sows at mixing, but increases litter size at farrowing.
Page 46 of articles about behaviour-welfare
Belgium renounces castration without anesthesia
The National Federation of Belgian meat (FEBEV), has decided to abandon the practice of surgical castration of pigs without anesthesia starting in 2012.
Portugal: FVO final report on the implementation of controls for animal welfare
While there have been certain improvements in getting better compliance in the pig sector, in particular regarding manipulable material, overstocking, and care for sick animals and concerning enforcement, have not been fully addressed and require action. As a result of the lack of mortality and medicine records, the CA cannot adequately verify the care of sick animals.
USA: USDA announces directive to improve humane handling enforcement measures to ensure consistent treatment of livestock
This directive provides new instructions for inspection program personnel to ensure that treatment of livestock during handling and slaughter minimizes the animal’s amount of excitement, pain, injury or discomfort.
Oral fluid
Oral fluid samples can at times replace traditional blood testing while requiring less labor and technical skill. Also there is clearly reduced stress for people and pigs, which is becoming important in modern food animal production.
EFSA - Preparatory work for the future assessing of pig's welfare (II)
Preparatory work for the future development of animal based measures for assessing the welfare of weaned, growing and fattening pigs including aspects related to space allowance, floor types, tail biting and need for tail docking.
EFSA - Preparatory work for the future assessing of pig's welfare (I)
Preparatory work for the future development of animal based measures for assessing the welfare of sow, boar and piglet including aspects related to pig castration.
Netherlands – New regulation for the transport of livestock
As of July 1 the Dutch government will only recognize the QLL quality system (Quality system Livestock Logistics) for transport and centers for animal collection, meaning that the use of all other certification systems will be abandoned.
Behavioral indexes of piglet welfare: Comparison of indoor and outdoor housing systems
Investigative, social-play and conflict behaviors may be effective indexes of the welfare level of piglets, especially investigative and conflict behaviors.
Sow preferences for farrowing under a cover with and without access to straw
Since feed-back from a functional nest may improve maternal behaviour and thus piglet survival we investigated if access to a covered area and ad libitum access to straw would improve maternal behaviour of importance for piglet survival.
USA - Grants extended to improve animal welfare
Animal Welfare Approved (AWA) has announced a call for proposals for its 2011-2012 Good Husbandry Grants. The Good Husbandry Grants program has funded nearly 100 projects across the country to improve farm animal welfare.
The effects of housing system and feeding level on the joint-specific prevalence of osteochondrosis in fattening pigs
Osteochondrosis prevalence can be reduced by applying deep litter floors with extra space allowance and/or restricted feeding in fattening pigs.
A meta-analysis of the combined effect of housing and environmental enrichment characteristics on the behaviour and performance of pigs
To quantify the combined effect of housing conditions and environmental enrichment on the behaviour and performance of pigs, a meta-analysis was performed using information from 45 experiments in 42 published manuscripts.
United Kingdom - NPA warns of straw shortages
Arable farmers are being urged to bale all available straw this year, as the National Pig Association (NPA) warned of serious straw shortages for pig farmers. Pig-keepers are already paying record prices for straw and there are worries that there will not be enough to go round.
The effect of pain relief at castration on piglet performance
The objective of this study was to determine if piglet performance could be improved by using analgesia during castration.
Agonistic behaviour after mixing in pigs under commercial farm conditions
The aim of the study was to investigate agonistic behaviour of pigs after regrouping pigs under commercial sow farm conditions. The behavioural patterns were observed over a 48-h period, directly after weaning (PIG-28; n = 647) and 40 days later (growing pigs, PIG-68; n = 224).