Abstract
Ethical and commercial issues are associated with animal welfare in pig farming, in that sense, the objective of this work was to evaluate physiological and blood parameters in addition to weight gain in pigs raised with and without sunlight and environmental enrichment (EE), as well as to correlate physiological and environmental parameters as welfare indicators. Twenty-four pigs distributed in a randomized block design with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement were used. Blocks were represented by shifts (morning and afternoon), and factors by the presence or absence of EE and sunlight. Blood and environmental parameters of thermal comfort, in addition to weight gain, were registered. Physiological parameters showed to be shift dependent (p < 0.05), with the afternoon shift being superior when compared to the morning shift, thus indicating climate influence. Weight gain showed significant interactions (p < 0.05) in the presence and absence of sunlight and EE in the stalls. Temperature correlated positively with the physiological parameters. Moisture showed negative correlations with physiological parameters. The packed cell volume was lower (p < 0.05) in the presence of EE. The EE provides physiological well-being and weight gain for pigs in the nursery stage, especially when sunlight was absent in the stalls.
Highlights
Animal welfare has relevance as an ethical matter, and as a tool to access new markets, any animal farm which pursues sustainability should maximize welfare in order to maximize the expression of animals’ potential (Poletto et al, 2011; Velarde et al, 2015)
Regarding the Air humidity (AH), the afternoon shift had less (p > 0.05) amount of water in the air, possibly because of the Air temperature (AT) having achieved an average temperature of 36.22 oC, rendering a dryer and uncomfortable air to breath
Miranda et al (2012), working with pigs in nursery stage, considered that AH should remain between 50-70%, with the optimal value for this breeding stage being of 70%, according to Lima et al (2011)
Summary
Animal welfare has relevance as an ethical matter, and as a tool to access new markets, any animal farm which pursues sustainability should maximize welfare in order to maximize the expression of animals’ potential (Poletto et al, 2011; Velarde et al, 2015). One of the greatest challenges in pig production is to provide conditions of well-being while still remaining competitive in the market, since the animals are produced in small areas without environmental conditions to express their normal behavior (Temple et al, 2011). Environmental enrichment is an alternative which allows animals to express their normal behavior and thereby reduce physiological stresses produced by climatic variations and facilities. It targets to increase the quality of life for animals farmed under intensive systems, through the identification and provision of environmental jas.ccsenet.org
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