Preference and possible consumption of provided enrichment and bedding materials and disinfectant powder by growing pigs

Autor: Felicitas Koch, Janine Kowalczyk, Hans Mielke, Hans Schenkel, Martin Bachmann, Annette Zeyner, Peter Leinweber, Robert Pieper
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Porcine Health Management, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2055-5660
DOI: 10.1186/s40813-021-00243-w
Popis: Abstract Background Domestic pigs have an evolutionary conserved exploratory behaviour. To comply with this requirement, the European Union aims at setting standards for appropriate enrichment materials for pigs (Council Directive 2008/120/EC). As recommended characteristics include ‘chewable’ and ‘edible’, pigs might also consume these materials (Commission Recommendation (EU) 2016/336), which are often additionally advertised to enhance lying comfort and hygienic conditions in stables. To date, a wide range of bedding, enrichment and disinfectant materials is available on the market to ensure environmental enrichment, a dry, hygienic environment or lying comfort. Previous studies revealed considerable amounts of undesirable substances in some of these materials possibly being a risk for food safety considering oral uptake by the animal. To determine interest and indicators for consumption of different types of materials by pigs during exploratory behaviour, a camera-assisted observational study with 12 female pigs (German Landrace) was conducted. We tested their preference for a disinfectant powder, peat, biochar and straw as reference material in a 4 × 6 factorial arrangement. Results Pigs manipulated and consumed all offered materials. However, longest manipulation time per pig was observed for biochar (63 min/day) and peat (50 min/day) (p
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals