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Behaviour and performance of sows and piglets in crates and a Thorstensson system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

R. H. Bradshaw  and
D. M. Broom
R. H. Bradshaw
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OES, United Kingdom
D. M. Broom
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OES, United Kingdom
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Extract

There has been considerable concern over the welfare of sows housed in farrowing crates due to the severe restriction of movement this imposes upon them. A number of alternative systems have therefore been developed which allow sows greater freedom of movement. The aim of this study was to compare the behaviour and performance of sows housed in conventional crates with sows housed in a group-house Thorstensson system.

A total of 18 Large White x Landrace sows were farrowed in crates or a group-housing Thorstensson system (balanced for parity and time of year). Two batches of seven were farrowed through the Thorstensson system of which five in each batch were selected for the current analysis (based on ease of observation). Thus a total of ten sows were analysed from the group-system (mean parity: 1.90 ± 0.40; 6 gilts). In addition eight sows were analysed from crates (mean parity 1.62 ± 0.26; 4 gilts).

Type
Programme
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1999 , 1999 , pp. 179
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1999

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