Ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sows
As the number of gestating sows reared in group housing increases, a better understanding of behavioral traits needed to negotiate these more complex social interactions promises to increase animal welfare and productivity. However, little is known about different behavioral strategies or coping sty...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2018-01-01
|
| Series: | Animal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731118000149 |
| _version_ | 1819015883929944064 |
|---|---|
| author | K.M. Horback T.D. Parsons |
| author_facet | K.M. Horback T.D. Parsons |
| author_sort | K.M. Horback |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As the number of gestating sows reared in group housing increases, a better understanding of behavioral traits needed to negotiate these more complex social interactions promises to increase animal welfare and productivity. However, little is known about different behavioral strategies or coping styles in sows, and even less is understood about their ontogeny. To study the development of coping styles in adult gestating sows, 36 sows from the same sire line and same commercial maternal genetics were followed from birth through their second parity. Each animal was observed in a battery of stress-related behavioral tests at 5 weeks, and 3 months of age as well as 24 h postpartum as a parity 1 sow, and during introduction to subsequent gestation period in group housing. The tests at different ages included response to handling, open field exploration, human interaction, litter handling and social interactions with conspecifics. Many of the observed behaviors were correlated during the same period of the animal’s life and provided the motivation for a principal component analysis by age. Using principal component analysis, multiple traits were determined at each age point; at 5 weeks old: active, non-exploratory and cautious explained 82.5% of the variance; at 3 months of age: active, non-exploratory and low fear of humans explained 87.7% of the variance; and as primiparous sows: active, aggressive/dominant and submissive explained 82.0% of the variance. Several individual juvenile behaviors were associated with adult behavioral traits. For instance, the response to handling at 5 weeks was significantly predictive (β=0.4; P<0.05) of the aggressive/dominant trait of parity 1 sows. Taken together results presented here suggest that early behavioral responses of prepuberal gilts during specific instances of elevated environmental or social stress can predict future behavioral response as gestating sows. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T02:38:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e38b4294f8d7479b879e63662bda6eeb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1751-7311 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T02:38:49Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal |
| spelling | doaj.art-e38b4294f8d7479b879e63662bda6eeb2022-12-21T19:18:44ZengElsevierAnimal1751-73112018-01-01121123652372Ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sowsK.M. Horback0T.D. Parsons1Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USASwine Teaching and Research Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, 382 West Street Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348, USAAs the number of gestating sows reared in group housing increases, a better understanding of behavioral traits needed to negotiate these more complex social interactions promises to increase animal welfare and productivity. However, little is known about different behavioral strategies or coping styles in sows, and even less is understood about their ontogeny. To study the development of coping styles in adult gestating sows, 36 sows from the same sire line and same commercial maternal genetics were followed from birth through their second parity. Each animal was observed in a battery of stress-related behavioral tests at 5 weeks, and 3 months of age as well as 24 h postpartum as a parity 1 sow, and during introduction to subsequent gestation period in group housing. The tests at different ages included response to handling, open field exploration, human interaction, litter handling and social interactions with conspecifics. Many of the observed behaviors were correlated during the same period of the animal’s life and provided the motivation for a principal component analysis by age. Using principal component analysis, multiple traits were determined at each age point; at 5 weeks old: active, non-exploratory and cautious explained 82.5% of the variance; at 3 months of age: active, non-exploratory and low fear of humans explained 87.7% of the variance; and as primiparous sows: active, aggressive/dominant and submissive explained 82.0% of the variance. Several individual juvenile behaviors were associated with adult behavioral traits. For instance, the response to handling at 5 weeks was significantly predictive (β=0.4; P<0.05) of the aggressive/dominant trait of parity 1 sows. Taken together results presented here suggest that early behavioral responses of prepuberal gilts during specific instances of elevated environmental or social stress can predict future behavioral response as gestating sows.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731118000149swinepersonalitycoping stylessowanimal welfare |
| spellingShingle | K.M. Horback T.D. Parsons Ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sows Animal swine personality coping styles sow animal welfare |
| title | Ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sows |
| title_full | Ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sows |
| title_fullStr | Ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sows |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sows |
| title_short | Ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sows |
| title_sort | ontogeny of behavioral traits in commercial sows |
| topic | swine personality coping styles sow animal welfare |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1751731118000149 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kmhorback ontogenyofbehavioraltraitsincommercialsows AT tdparsons ontogenyofbehavioraltraitsincommercialsows |