Post-weaning social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a complex multi-suckling group housing system or in a conventional system with a crated sow

S E Van Nieuwamerongen,M Mendl,N M Soede,S Held,J E Bolhuis

doi:10.1007/s10071-017-1110-x

S E Van Nieuwamerongen, M Mendl + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-017-1110-x

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Abstract

We studied the social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a conventional system with a sow in a farrowing crate (FC) or in a multi-suckling (MS) system in which 5 sows and their piglets could interact in a more physically enriched and spacious environment. After weaning at 4 weeks of age, 8 groups of 4 litter-mates per pre-weaning housing treatment were studied under equal and enriched post-weaning housing conditions. From each pen, one pair consisting of a dominant and a submissive pig was selected, based on a feed competition test (FCT) 2 weeks post-weaning. This pair was used in an informed forager test (IFT) which measured aspects of spatial learning and foraging strategies in a competitive context. During individual training, submissive (informed) pigs learned to remember a bait location in a testing arena with 8 buckets (the same bucket was baited in a search visit and a subsequent relocation visit), whereas dominant (non-informed) pigs always found the bait in a random bucket (search visits only). After learning their task, the informed pigs’ individual search visit was followed by a pairwise relocation visit in which they were accompanied by the non-informed pig. Effects of pre-weaning housing treatment were not distinctly present regarding the occurrence of aggression in the FCT and the learning performance during individual training in the IFT. During paired visits, informed and non-informed pigs changed their behaviour in response to being tested pairwise instead of individually, but MS and FC pigs showed few distinct behavioural differences.

Highlights

Rearing conditions can have a great impact on an animal’s social and cognitive development
We studied the social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a conventional system with a sow in a farrowing crate (FC) or in a multisuckling (MS) system in which 5 sows and their piglets could interact in a more physically enriched and spacious environment
Submissive pigs learned to remember a bait location in a testing arena with 8 buckets, whereas dominant pigs always found the bait in a random bucket

Summary

Introduction

Rearing conditions can have a great impact on an animal’s social and cognitive development. Piglets are reared in a farrowing pen with a crated sow, which provides an environment that is limited in stimuli that would promote piglet development: the sow is confined, which restricts sow–litter interaction and learning from the mother (Oostindjer et al 2011b), piglets have no contact with other litters, the environment is generally barren with minimal enrichment material and no rooting substrate, and the pen has a relatively simple design. This is in large contrast to the environment that a pig would encounter under natural conditions. The social and physical environment in a conventional system restricts expression of natural behaviours, which may be important for the development of domestic pigs

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