TY - JOUR
T1 - A multi‑suckling system combined with an enriched housing environment during the growing period promotes resilience to various challenges in pigs
AU - Parois, S.P.Y.
AU - Zande, Lisette van der
AU - Knol, E.F.
AU - Kemp, Bas
AU - Rodenburg, Bas
AU - Bolhuis, J.E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the farm staff at the Swine Innovation Centre (Sterksel, The Netherlands) and at Carus research facilities (Wageningen, the Netherlands) for daily animal care and the help in the data collection. They would also like to address a special thanks to the technicians and laboratory persons from the Adaptation Physiology group: Joop Arts, Rudie Koopmanschap, Bjorge Laurenssen, Manon van Marwijk and Monique Ooms. They are also grateful for the invaluable help of the students involved in the project: Marith Booijen, Tao Cui, Jori Noordenbos, Marloes van Beurden, Sandra van Iwaarden and Shiv Vasa.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Little is known about the impact of social and environmental enrichment on improving livestock resilience, i.e. the ability to quickly recover from perturbations. We evaluated the effect of an alternative housing system (AHS) on resilience of pigs, as compared to conventional housing (CONV). The AHS consisted of multi-litter housing during lactation, delayed weaning, extra space allowance and environmental enrichment at all times. We assessed recovery to a 2 h-transport challenge, an LPS injection, 2 h-heat stress and a biopsy wound in 96 pigs. Additionally, indicators of long-term “wear and tear” on the body were determined. AHS pigs had better physiological recoveries with quicker returns to baseline in the transport and LPS challenges, showed lower cortisol accumulation in hairs and lower variance in weight gain over the experimental period compared to conventionally-housed (CONV) pigs. They also had higher levels of natural antibodies binding KLH than CONV pigs. Their response to heat stress revealed a different strategy compared to CONV pigs. Taken together, AHS pigs appear to be more resilient and experience less chronic stress. Enhancing welfare by provision of social and environmental enrichment that better meets the behavioural needs of pigs seems to be a promising approach to improve their resilience.
AB - Little is known about the impact of social and environmental enrichment on improving livestock resilience, i.e. the ability to quickly recover from perturbations. We evaluated the effect of an alternative housing system (AHS) on resilience of pigs, as compared to conventional housing (CONV). The AHS consisted of multi-litter housing during lactation, delayed weaning, extra space allowance and environmental enrichment at all times. We assessed recovery to a 2 h-transport challenge, an LPS injection, 2 h-heat stress and a biopsy wound in 96 pigs. Additionally, indicators of long-term “wear and tear” on the body were determined. AHS pigs had better physiological recoveries with quicker returns to baseline in the transport and LPS challenges, showed lower cortisol accumulation in hairs and lower variance in weight gain over the experimental period compared to conventionally-housed (CONV) pigs. They also had higher levels of natural antibodies binding KLH than CONV pigs. Their response to heat stress revealed a different strategy compared to CONV pigs. Taken together, AHS pigs appear to be more resilient and experience less chronic stress. Enhancing welfare by provision of social and environmental enrichment that better meets the behavioural needs of pigs seems to be a promising approach to improve their resilience.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128864452&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-10745-4
DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-10745-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 35474326
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 6804
ER -