Abstract
Some effects of expressing stereotypic behavior have not yet been elucidated. During gestation, the environment has the potential to interfere with offspring development and to have prenatal or longer-term consequences. We tested the hypothesis that the occurrence of stereotypic behavior during gestation could affect the phenotype of the offspring. Twenty-eight pregnant sows were studied by comparing two groups differing in the amount of stereotypy shown. We analyzed emotionality in the offspring from sows showing high or low stereotypy frequency using the open field and novel object tests. In the open field test, piglets from sows with a high rate of stereotypies walked more in central sectors (p < 0.0001) and lateral sectors (p = 0.04) than piglets from sows with a low rate of stereotypies. In the novel object test, the offspring from low stereotypy sows vocalized more (p = 0.008). We demonstrate for the first time that the stereotypic behavior by the mother during gestation changes the phenotype of the offspring, in particular, their emotionality.
Highlights
Stereotypic behavior, or stereotypy, is repetitive and apparently functionless and often develops in suboptimal environments that could cause poor welfare [1]
We showed that there is a relationship between stereotypies expressed by the sow and emotionality in their offspring
As far as we know, this is the first evidence that stereotypies expressed by the mother during gestation can affect the offspring emotionality, changing their phenotype
Summary
Stereotypic behavior, or stereotypy, is repetitive and apparently functionless and often develops in suboptimal environments that could cause poor welfare [1]. This behavior develops in animals kept in environments with few stimuli, physical restraint, fear, or frustration [1]. The stereotypic behavior expression is often considered a welfare indicator [1,2,3], since it can tell us about psychological states that are difficult to evaluate. This specific behavioral indicator does not correlate well with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity [4], which is mainly an indicator of short-term welfare problems
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