Short confinement of sows after farrowing, but not pen type affects live-born piglet mortality
Over the last decades, permanent crating of farrowing and lactating sows has led to serious public concerns with regard to sow welfare. As one alternative, it has been suggested to restrict crating to the period when suckling piglets are at the highest risk to die. Therefore, the aim of this study w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Animal |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731121002925 |
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| author | B. Heidinger K. Maschat S. Kuchling L. Hochfellner C. Winckler J. Baumgartner C. Leeb |
| author_facet | B. Heidinger K. Maschat S. Kuchling L. Hochfellner C. Winckler J. Baumgartner C. Leeb |
| author_sort | B. Heidinger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Over the last decades, permanent crating of farrowing and lactating sows has led to serious public concerns with regard to sow welfare. As one alternative, it has been suggested to restrict crating to the period when suckling piglets are at the highest risk to die. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate live-born piglet mortality with regard to different confinement periods (CFP) as well as farrowing pen types. On three research farms (A, B and C), four confinement periods were compared: In CFP 0 (control), sows were not confined at all, sows in CFP 3 were crated after the end of farrowing for three days. In CFP 4, sows were confined one day before the due date of farrowing until three days after parturition and sows in CFP 6 were crated one day before expected farrowing until five days after parturition. Furthermore, five different pen types designed for temporary crating (PT; 5.5–7.3 m2) were compared. In total, production data from 638 litters were analysed. For each piglet found dead (n = 1 580), the cause of death was determined by the farm personnel and verified by necropsy (all three farms) and additional video analysis (farms A and B only). Data were analysed using logistic mixed models with CFP 0 and pen type Fluegel as reference categories (CFP 0 was control and this pen type was present on all three farms and the largest number of litters was born in this pen type). Live-born piglet mortality was lower in temporarily crated sows than in sows without confinement (CFP 0; P < 0.015). Pairwise posthoc tests did not reveal differences between CFP 3, CFP 4 and CFP 6 (odds ratios 0.75, 0.59 and 0.69), nor between pen types. Additional factors associated with increasing live-born piglet mortality were larger litter size, higher sow parity as well as the administration of hormones around farrowing. Factors influencing mortality due to crushing were similar to those for total live-born mortality with the exception of CFP 3 not differing significantly from CFP 0. It can be concluded, that confinement of the sow for three days after farrowing is an effective measure to reduce live-born piglet mortality in the pen types tested. An extension of the confinement period to five days after parturition does not result in a further reduction of live-born mortality rate. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T11:28:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-25301c401ebe4d569273fcd3b31be0a4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1751-7311 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T11:28:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal |
| spelling | doaj.art-25301c401ebe4d569273fcd3b31be0a42022-12-21T23:48:03ZengElsevierAnimal1751-73112022-02-01162100446Short confinement of sows after farrowing, but not pen type affects live-born piglet mortalityB. Heidinger0K. Maschat1S. Kuchling2L. Hochfellner3C. Winckler4J. Baumgartner5C. Leeb6Department of Animal Husbandry Systems, Technology and Emissions, Agricultural Research and Education Centre Raumberg-Gumpenstein, Raumberg 38, 8952 Irdning-Donnersbachtal, AustriaDepartment for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, AustriaDepartment Statistics and Analytical Epidemiology, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety Ltd. (AGES), Zinzendorfgasse 27/1, 8010 Graz, AustriaDepartment Statistics and Analytical Epidemiology, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety Ltd. (AGES), Zinzendorfgasse 27/1, 8010 Graz, AustriaDepartment of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180 Vienna, AustriaDepartment for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, AustriaDepartment of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria; Corresponding author.Over the last decades, permanent crating of farrowing and lactating sows has led to serious public concerns with regard to sow welfare. As one alternative, it has been suggested to restrict crating to the period when suckling piglets are at the highest risk to die. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate live-born piglet mortality with regard to different confinement periods (CFP) as well as farrowing pen types. On three research farms (A, B and C), four confinement periods were compared: In CFP 0 (control), sows were not confined at all, sows in CFP 3 were crated after the end of farrowing for three days. In CFP 4, sows were confined one day before the due date of farrowing until three days after parturition and sows in CFP 6 were crated one day before expected farrowing until five days after parturition. Furthermore, five different pen types designed for temporary crating (PT; 5.5–7.3 m2) were compared. In total, production data from 638 litters were analysed. For each piglet found dead (n = 1 580), the cause of death was determined by the farm personnel and verified by necropsy (all three farms) and additional video analysis (farms A and B only). Data were analysed using logistic mixed models with CFP 0 and pen type Fluegel as reference categories (CFP 0 was control and this pen type was present on all three farms and the largest number of litters was born in this pen type). Live-born piglet mortality was lower in temporarily crated sows than in sows without confinement (CFP 0; P < 0.015). Pairwise posthoc tests did not reveal differences between CFP 3, CFP 4 and CFP 6 (odds ratios 0.75, 0.59 and 0.69), nor between pen types. Additional factors associated with increasing live-born piglet mortality were larger litter size, higher sow parity as well as the administration of hormones around farrowing. Factors influencing mortality due to crushing were similar to those for total live-born mortality with the exception of CFP 3 not differing significantly from CFP 0. It can be concluded, that confinement of the sow for three days after farrowing is an effective measure to reduce live-born piglet mortality in the pen types tested. An extension of the confinement period to five days after parturition does not result in a further reduction of live-born mortality rate.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731121002925Animal welfareCrushingLactating sowsLitter sizeTemporary crating |
| spellingShingle | B. Heidinger K. Maschat S. Kuchling L. Hochfellner C. Winckler J. Baumgartner C. Leeb Short confinement of sows after farrowing, but not pen type affects live-born piglet mortality Animal Animal welfare Crushing Lactating sows Litter size Temporary crating |
| title | Short confinement of sows after farrowing, but not pen type affects live-born piglet mortality |
| title_full | Short confinement of sows after farrowing, but not pen type affects live-born piglet mortality |
| title_fullStr | Short confinement of sows after farrowing, but not pen type affects live-born piglet mortality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short confinement of sows after farrowing, but not pen type affects live-born piglet mortality |
| title_short | Short confinement of sows after farrowing, but not pen type affects live-born piglet mortality |
| title_sort | short confinement of sows after farrowing but not pen type affects live born piglet mortality |
| topic | Animal welfare Crushing Lactating sows Litter size Temporary crating |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731121002925 |
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