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A delayed aversion to atmospheric ammonia in Pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2021

J B Jones
Affiliation:
Silsoe Research Institute, Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4HS, UK Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DU, UK
A J F Webster
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DU, UK
C M Wathes
Affiliation:
Silsoe Research Institute, Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4HS, UK
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Extract

Intensively housed pigs are continuously exposed to aerial pollutants, such as ammonia gas (e.g. Robertson 1994). The objective of this study was to determine if exposure to ammonia, for an extended period, was aversive to a pig. The three chronic choice test experiments catalogued the behavioural responses of Duroc x Landrace pigs to concentrations of ammonia recorded frequently in commercial piggeries. The first experiment established if ammonia was aversive. The remaining experiments indirectly and directly traded off the strength of any aversion against thermal comfort. In the second experiment thermal comfort could be obtained either in the absence or presence of ammonia; in the third experiment thermal comfort could only be gained in the presence of ammonia.

Type
Programme
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1997

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References

Jones, J B, Burgess, L R, Wathes, C M and Webster, A J F (1996) The behavioural responses of pigs to atmospheric ammonia in a chronic choice test. Animal Science (in press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, J B, Wathes, C M and Webster, A J F (1996) Operant responses of pigs to atmospheric ammonia. Applied Animal Behaviour Science (submitted)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, J F (1994) Ammonia, Dust and Air Quality: Quantifying the Problem. The Pig Journal, 33: 113125 Google Scholar