"Mothers Should Have Freedom of Movement"-Citizens' Attitudes Regarding Farrowing Housing Systems for Sows and Their Piglets.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Vandresen B
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8698166 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:We investigated the effect of different farrowing systems on the behavior of sows and piglets. In total, 22 hybrid sows (Yorkshire × Landrace) were randomly assigned into three farrowing systems, farrowing crate (FC), free farrowing pen with sloping walls (FFS), and free farrowing pen with sloping walls and nest materials (FFSN). The FFS and FFSN sows were more active, and exhibited less abnormal behaviors compared with the FC sows before and after parturition. FFS and FFSN piglets were more active compared with FC piglets. The increased activity of the FFS and FFSN sows might encourage the activity of their piglets, resulting in more proximity to sow behavior of their piglets. Providing nest materials improved the investigative behavior of sows and piglets. The total mortality of piglets in the free farrowing systems tended to be higher compared with the farrowing crate system. In conclusion, free farrowing system has beneficial effects on the behavior of sows and piglets but extra care in management needs to be taken to avoid piglet loss. Adding nest material in the farrowing pens is suggested to enrich the behavioral pattern of sows and piglets.
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Project description:Pens with farrowing crate (FC) and two differently designed free-farrowing pens (LH-pens: 7.3 m², plastic flooring; GH-pens: 5 m², cast-iron and concrete flooring) were compared regarding piglet losses and postpartum sow behaviour (all treatments) and reasons for piglet crushing and postpartum litter behaviour (LH and GH). One-hundred-and-three crushing events were analysed in eight batches concerning sows' posture changes that crushed piglets and age of crushed piglets. Posture change frequency, amounts of single posture changes and total time spent in different body postures were evaluated for 41 sows (14 FC-sows, 13 LH-sows and 14 GH-sows) in six batches. Litter behaviour (location, active/inactive scoring, resting behaviour next to the sow) was analysed during sows' posture changes and piglet crushing. Piglet mortality was higher in LH (25.6%) and GH (19.9%) compared to FC (12.3%) due to higher levels of piglet crushing. Most crushing occurred during the three days postpartum in LH (92.7%) and GH (83.9%). However, crushing patterns differed between LH (rolling: 68.2%; sit-to-lie: 18.2%; stand-to-lie: 11.4%) and GH (rolling: 38.2%; sit-to-lie: 30.9%; stand-to-lie: 16.4%) and varying piglet behaviour may be the cause for this. The postpartum period was characterized by inactivity of the sow and behavioural differences were rarely seen between systems.
| S-EPMC6719171 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Different housing systems can be used in pig production and little is known about their effect on gut microbiota composition. In this study we characterized fecal microbiota by sequencing the rRNA genes in sows kept during gestation in conventional pens with a slatted floor and in enriched pens with a floor covered with deep straw. After farrowing, microbiota of 1- and 4-day-old piglets were also monitored. Microbiota of sows from the enriched system contained significantly more Prevotella, Parabacteroides, CF231, Phascolarctobacterium, Fibrobacter, Anaerovibrio and YRC22 and significantly less Lactobacillus, Bulleidia, Lachnospira, Dorea, Ruminococcus and Oscillospira than microbiota of sows from the conventional system. The Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio was 0.96 in the microbiota of sows kept in the enriched pens and this increased to 1.66 in the microbiota of sows kept in the conventional system. The production system therefore influenced microbiota composition, most likely due the ingestion of the straw. The microbiota of 1- and 4-day-old piglets differed from the microbiota of sows and sows therefore did not represent the most important source for their colonization in early days of life.
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Project description:While group housing (GH) is mandatory in the European Union for the greater part of pregnancy, single housing in farrowing crates (FCs) during lactation that restrict sows in most of their natural behaviour patterns is still practised on a large scale. Research is urgently needed to develop alternative farrowing systems that improve sows' welfare. Therefore, sows in three different farrowing systems - pens with FC, loose housing (LH) pens and GH for six sows - were compared regarding the level of skin injuries and their active and resting behaviour. A skin injury score was assessed for 15 body parts of 102 sows in six batches on 3 days (days 1, 14 and 34). In total, the active and resting behaviour of 77 sows in six batches was examined on 3 days (days 18, 25 and 32) between 0700 h and 1900 h by means of a scan sampling method. The suckling behaviour and the level of cross-suckling were analysed in GH by means of direct observation in four batches during three 4-h sampling periods (days 17, 24 and 31). No significant differences were found in total skin injuries when the sows entered the systems (day 1), but GH sows showed significantly higher total skin injuries compared to FC and LH sows in the middle (day 14) and at the end (day 34) of the lactation period. A significant difference between FC and LH sows was never seen. Differences were found for the proportion of different body postures between the three systems. The odds for lying in lateral recumbency versus standing and sitting versus standing were significantly higher for FC and LH sows compared to GH sows. Additionally, sows were significantly more likely to be standing as opposed to lying in lateral recumbency as the lactation period progressed. Cross-suckling was a frequent behaviour in GH, seen in 35.0% of all successful suckling bouts. However, only an average of 0.56 piglets per successful suckling bout was observed cross-suckling, suggesting only a few piglets were engaged in cross-suckling. In conclusion, the skin injury score was only moderately increased in GH compared to FC and LH and comparable to pregnant group-housed sows, both free farrowing systems seemed to be an environmental enrichment for lactating sows and good management cannot prevent the occurrence of cross-suckling in a GH system, but can probably reduce it.
| S-EPMC6801640 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This study assessed mothers' perspectives regarding research involvement by their children, factors that might affect perceptions of research risks, and attitudes regarding willingness to enroll children in research. Participants completed a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Mothers were less inclined to enroll children in research involving procedures posing higher risk (regression coefficient = -0.51). Mothers without mental health issues with children without health issues were more sensitive to risk than mothers without mental health issues with children with health issues (estimated difference = 0.49). Mothers with mental health issues were more willing than mothers without mental health issues to enroll children in research (regression coefficient = -0.90). Among mothers with mental health issues, having a child with a health issue was associated with increased willingness to enroll in research, compared with having children without health issues (estimated difference = 0.65).
| S-EPMC7606296 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The introduction of the accurate and procedurally easy non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) raises ethical concerns that public attitudes towards prenatal screening may change, leading to societal pressure to participate in aneuploidy screening. This study examined Dutch citizens' attitudes towards a pregnant woman's decision to (1) decline NIPT in the context of two different funding policies and (2) to terminate or continue a pregnancy affected by different disorders. The attitudes of 1096 respondents were assessed with the contrastive vignette method, using two pairs of vignettes about declining NIPT and termination of pregnancy. Most respondents either agreed with a woman's decision to decline NIPT or were neutral about it, stating that this decision should be made independently by women, and does not warrant judgement by others. Interestingly, funding policies did influence respondents' attitudes: significantly more respondents disagreed with declining NIPT when it was fully reimbursed. Respondents had similar attitudes to the vignettes on termination and continuation of pregnancy in case of Down's syndrome. In case of Edwards' or Patau's syndrome, however, significantly more respondents disagreed with continuation, citing the severity of the disorder and the child's best interests. This study demonstrates broad acknowledgement of women's freedom of choice in Dutch society; a finding that may help to rebut existing concerns about societal pressure for pregnant women to participate in prenatal screening. As the reimbursement policy and the scope of NIPT may influence people's attitudes and elicit moral judgements, however, maintaining freedom of choice warrants sustained efforts by health professionals and policy makers.
| S-EPMC7853136 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We explored the attitudes of Brazilians towards different methods to deal with boar taint in pork (surgical castration without pain control, SC; surgical castration with pain control, SC+PC; immunocastration, IC; raising entire males, EM). Two surveys (Sv1, n = 441 and Sv2, n = 768) containing closed and open questions were conducted. Nearly 70% of Sv1 and Sv2 participants were unaware that meat of entire males may have boar taint and that SC is widely used in pig production in Brazil. In Sv1, acceptability of SC+PC (63%) and IC (53%) was greater than of SC (15%). In Sv2, acceptability of IC (55%) and EM (52%) was greater than of SC (18%). Open-ended responses indicated that participants objected to inflicting pain to pigs to attain a production goal, and were concerned with organoleptic traits and risks of exogenous residues in pork. Participants' views regarding the potential increases in the cost of meat due to adoption of alternative methods varied; some argued that avoiding pain justifies an increase in the price of pork and others that this would impact especially lower income citizens. Our findings indicate that participants opposed surgical castration without pain control, and supported alternative methods. However, the concern with potential risks of presence of residues in meat, expressed by a few participants, may need to be addressed among consumers.
| S-EPMC7650544 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The present study investigated the effects of loose farrowing type during gestation and after farrowing on reproductive performance and of lactating sows. A total of 22 primiparous sows (Landrace; average initial body weights [BW], 228.54 ± 12.79 kg) were allotted to one of two treatments on the basis of body weight. Sows were divided into two experimental groups, conventional farrowing crates (CON), and loosed-farrowing pens (LFP). The experiment duration was around 38 days ranging from 10 days before parturition to 28 days after parturition. Gestating sows at the age of 105 d were placed in gestational stalls (group housing). All the sows were fed a common diet according to the National Research Council requirements for lactation. Cross-fostering was performed within 1 day of parturition. From 1 day after weaning, estrus detection was performed twice-daily (0900 and 1730 h) for 10 min by boar exposure. There were significant effects of LFP housing type on the farrowing duration, and farrowing interval. At the farrowing time, none of the litter parameters including total born, stillborn, mummy, born alive piglets and total litter weight and piglet weight were affected. There were no effects of housing type on the mortality of piglets at d 1, 3, 7, 21, and 28. In conclusion, the result of this study showed that there is no performance difference between the crated or LFP sows, which indicate that the LFP housing has the potential to be used as an alternative to the crated house without any detrimental effects in reproduction performance of lactating sows.
| S-EPMC7142289 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe pathogenesis of postpartum dysgalactia syndrome (PDS) in sows is not fully elucidated and affected sows often present vague clinical signs. Accurate and timely diagnosis is difficult, and PDS is often recognized with a delay once piglets begin to starve. Increased rectal temperature of the sow is an important diagnostic parameter, but it may also be influenced by a number of other parameters and is thus difficult to interpret. Inflammatory markers may be important adjuncts to the clinical assessment of sows with PDS, but such markers have only been studied to a limited extent. The objective was to characterize the inflammatory response in healthy sows and in sows suffering from PDS, and to identify biomarkers that may assist in early identification of PDS-affected sows.ResultsThirty-eight PDS-affected (PDS+) and 38 healthy (PDS-) sows underwent clinical examination and blood sampling every 24 h, from 60 h before the first piglet was born to 36 h after parturition. In both groups, inflammatory markers changed in relation to parturition. Most inflammatory markers changed 12-36 h after parturition [white blood cell counts (WBC), neutrophil counts, lymphocyte counts, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), serum amyloid A (SAA), C-reactive protein (CRP), haptoglobin (Hp), iron (Fe) and albumin (ALB)]. Changes in neutrophil counts, lymphocyte counts, CRP, Fe and ALB were observed -12 to 0 h before parturition. WBC, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, serum concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6, Hp and Fe differed between PDS+ and PDS- sows. These differences were mainly apparent 12 to 36 h after parturition, but already at 12 h before parturition, PDS+ sows had lower lymphocyte counts than PDS- sows.ConclusionsParturition itself caused significant inflammatory changes, but PDS+ sows showed a more severe response than PDS- sows. WBC, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, and concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6, Hp and Fe can be potential biomarkers for PDS. Lymphocyte counts may be used to detect PDS at pre-partum. To assess their diagnostic potential, these markers must be investigated further and most likely combined with assessment of clinical parameters and other biomarkers for improved identification of sows at risk of developing PDS.
| S-EPMC5848515 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionThis study was conducted to explore the effects of supplementary feeding of bamboo powder on the physical parameters of sows during the perinatal period of 7 days ± in parturition, including farrow duration, serum biochemical indexes, fecal physicochemical indexes, and microbial flora.MethodsThirty pregnant sows were randomly divided into three groups: the control group was fed a basal diet, TRE1 group and TRE2 group were fed a basal diet supplemented with 30 g d-1 and 60 g d-1 bamboo powder, respectively. Multiple parameters of sows and offspring piglets were determined.ResultsThe contents of serum total cholesterol and triglyceride of sows in TRE2 group were significantly lower than those in the control group. The contents of serum malondialdehyde of sows in TRE2 and TRE1 groups were significantly lower than that in control group. The water content of sow feces in TRE2 group was significantly higher than that in control group, and the pH values of sows in TRE2 and TRE1 groups were significantly higher than that in control group. The richness index (Chao) of sow fecal bacterial community in TRE2 group was significantly lower than that of the control group, and the Ace and Sobs indexes tended to be lower than those of the control group. At the phylum level, the relative abundance of Actinobacteriota in the feces of sows in TRE2 group was significantly lower than that of the control group, while that of Fusobacteriota in the feces of suckling piglets in TRE2 group tended to be lower than that of the control group. At the genus level, among the Top10 dominant bacteria, the relative abundance of Tissierella in the feces of sows in TRE2 group was significantly lower than that of the control group while that of Fusobacterium in the feces of suckling piglets in TRE2 group tended to be lower than that of the control group. The relative abundance of Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, Terrisporobacter, Turicibacter, and Tissierella in the feces of sows in TRE2 group was significantly lower than that of TRE1 group (p < 0.05), while Lactobacillus tended to be higher than that of TRE1 group (p < 0.10).DiscussionThe results suggested that supplementary feeding 60 g d-1 bamboo powder could increase the water content in the feces of sows, reduce the oxidative damage, and tend to reduce the relative abundance of opportunistic pathogenic Fusobacterium for suckling piglets, while it reduced the fecal microbial diversity of sows.
| S-EPMC10172644 | biostudies-literature