Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T17:19:17.869Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Immediate behavioural consequences of fostering 1-week-old piglets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

R. I. Horrell
R. I. Horrell
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Hull, HU6 7RX
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Twenty-four sows and their 4- to 7-day-old litters were observed in batches of four for approximately 2h to ascertain piglet teat preferences and timings of suckling periods. In each batch, two litters were then selected to have two piglets exchanged between them while the other two remained intact as controls. In the subsequent 3 h, sows with fostered piglets initiated significantly more suckling periods than controls; but many were disturbed at an early stage and only 35% of such periods resulted in milk letdown (compared with 93% in controls). Many sows displayed aggression specifically towards fostered piglets. Many fostered piglets showed signs of distress and attempted to escape. Fostered piglets were significantly more likely to take 10 sec or more from the start of suckling to approach the udder, and less likely to be sucking at milk letdown. Many of these effects were greater when piglets had to compete with a resident piglet with the same teat preference and all were still evident in the third of the three observation hours.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 99 , Issue 2 , October 1982 , pp. 329 - 336
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, G. & Shillito, E. E. (1977). The importance of odour, appearance and voice in maternal recognition of the young in Merino sheep (Ovis aries). Applied Animal Ethology 3, 127–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alexander, G. & Stevens, D. (1981). Recognition of washed lambs by Merino ewes. Applied Animal Ethology 7, 77–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowie, A. T., Forsyth, I. A. & Hart, I. C. (1980). Hormonal Control of Lactation. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, D. F. & Willham, R. L. (1962). Systematic fostering experiments in swine. Journal of Animal Science 21, 366–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donald, H. P. (1937). Suckling and suckling preferences in the pig. Empire Journal of Experimental Agriculture 5, 361–368.Google Scholar
English, P. H., Smith, W. & MacLean, A. (1977). The Sow: Improving her Efficiency. Norwich: The Farming Press.Google Scholar
Fraser, D. (1975). Vocalizations of isolated piglets. I. Sources of variation and relationships among measures. Applied Animal Ethology 1, 387–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D. (1980). A review of the behavioural mechanism of milk ejection of the domestic pig. Applied Animal Ethology 6, 274–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D. & Jones, R. M. (1975). The ‘teat order’ of suckling pigs. I. Relation to birth weight and subsequent growth. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 84, 387–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D., Thompson, B. K., Ferguson, D. K. & Darroch, R. L. (1979). The ‘teat order’ of suckling pigs. 3. Relation to competition within litters. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 92, 257–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, J. C. & Thompson, W. (1956). Observations on the behaviour of suckling pigs. British Journal of Animal Behaviour 4, 46–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemsworth, P. H., Winfield, C. G. & Mullaney, P. D. (1976). A study of the development of the teat order in piglets. Applied Animal Ethology 2, 225–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horrell, R. I. & Bennett, J. M. T. (1981). Disruption of teat preferences and retardation of growth following cross-fostering of 1-woek-old pigs. Animal Production 33, 99–106.Google Scholar
Hudson, S. J. & Mullord, M. M. (1977). Investigations of maternal bonding in dairy cattle. Applied Animal Ethology 3, 271–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Neindre, P. & Garel, J. P. (1977). Études des relations mere-jeune chez les bovins domestique: comparaison des liaisons existant entre la mfere et les veaux légitimes ou adoptés. Biology of Behaviour 2, 39–49.Google Scholar
Le Neindre, P., Petit, M. & Garel, J. P. (1978). Allaitement de deux veaux par des vaches de race Salers. II. Étude de l'adoption. Annales de Zootechnie 27, 553–569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meese, G. B. & Baldwin, B. A. (1975). Effects of olfactory bulb ablation on maternal behaviour in sows. Applied Animal Ethology 1, 379–386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, P. D., Boundy, C. A. P., Arnold, G. W. & Lindsay, D. R. (1975). The roles played by the senses of the ewe in the location recognition of the lamb. Applied Animal Ethology 1, 139–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poindron, P. & Carrick, M. J. (1976). Hearing recognition of the lamb by its mother. Animal Behaviour 24, 600–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Signoret, J. P., Baldwin, B. A., Fraser, D. & Hafez, E. S. E. (1975). The behaviour of swine. In The Behaviour of Domestic Animals (ed. Hafez, E. S. E.). London: Baillière-Tindall.Google Scholar
Tucker, H. A. (1978). The role of physiological factors in stimulating the milk ejection reflex. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Machine Milking. Washington: National Mastitis Council.Google Scholar
Whittlestone, W. G. (1978). The physiology of lactation. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Machine Milking. Washington: National Mastitis Council.Google Scholar
Winfield, C. G., Hemsworth, P. H., Taverner, M. R. & Mullaney, P. D. (1974). Observations on the sucking behaviour of piglets in litters of varying size. Proceedings of the Australian Society for Animal Production 10, 307–310.Google Scholar