How does an enrichment toy at the time of mixing sows support oral-nasal-facial behaviors?

Le résumé fourni par la source

The objective of this pilot project was to evaluate an enrichment toy at mixing of unfamiliar sows in open pen gestation (OPG) and its effects on oral-nasal-facial (ONF) behaviors. The study was conducted on a commercial ~ 4, 500 head sow facility in Central Iowa. A total of 26 multiparous PIC® sows (parities 1 to 3) were assigned to one of two OPG pens (OPG; n = 13 per pen). The enrichment was a free movable object, an EasyFix® Luna 117. The EasyFix® Luna 117 will be referred to as Toy for the remainder of the report. The number of ONF interactions for each individual sow were recorded and summed during a 1 hour direct continuous observation sessions on Day 1, at mixing and Day 4, four days after mixing. ONF interactions was defined as contact with the toy by mouth or nose of an individual sow. Data are presented descriptively. A total of 23 out of 26 (~88%) sows had at least one ONF interaction with the toy over Day 1 and Day 4. For both pens, sows had higher ONF interactions with the toy on Day 1 than Day 4. For Pen 1-Day 1 the total number of ONF interactions for all sows was 41 vs. Pen 1-Day 4 the total number of ONF interactions for all sows was 9. For Pen 2-Day 1 the total number of ONF interactions for all sows was 25 vs. Pen 2-Day 4 the total number of ONF interactions for all sows was 4. Two parity 1 sows in Pen 1-Day 1 had the highest total number of ONF interactions (6 and 7 over 60-minutes. In conclusion, the majority of sows interacted with the enrichment toy on mixing day and this toy shows promise as a management tool to support these positive sow behaviors.

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