[Ethological free-choice studies with early-weaned piglets kept in pens with different amounts of straw. 2. Effects of different amounts of straw in different-sized areas].
In systematical continuation of our free choice experiments in housing systems with early weaned pigs, it has been investigated under the same conditions, whether there are any preferences for different area dimensions in using solid floor with straw or deep litter. For each floor type 0.3 m2, 0.45 m2 and 0.7 m2/animal have been used. Totally 6 experiments with 2 repetitions each have been carried out. Additionally the daily increase of live weight of the pigs has been calculated and their claws have been examined. In contrast to earlier experiments without straw (Marx and Schuster, 1984) the piglets didn't clearly differentiate between both possibilities but used them as one unit. For that reason the differences between the quantities of using the different areas in each experiment proved very little. But for lying behaviour there have been real distinctions between the different areas in dependence on the floor types. So piglets on solid floor with straw always preferred the area dimension of 0.3 m2/animal, while the animals on deep litter showed no clear preference. For activity all piglets always used the greater area in all experiments. An influence of the choice combination on the whole activity as well as on the whole lying behaviour could only been seen by the way, that the piglets were less active in the experiment with the greatest total area. The higher activity in the experiments with less total areas is traced back to the excrement areas, which increased during experimental time and so reduced the lying area, which led to more unrest among the animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Marx
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D
Institut für Tiermedizin und Tierhygiene, Universität Hohenheim.
Buchholz
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M
D000818:Animals; D006799:Housing, Animal; D013552:Swine / Q000254:growth & development*; D015430:Weight Gain