Effects of increasing energy intake and foraging behaviours on the development of stereotypies in pregnant sows

Publication Type:
 Journal Article
Year of Publication:
 1997
Authors:
 Renée Bergeron, Harold W. Gonyou
Publication/Journal:
 Applied Animal Behaviour Science
Keywords:
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Abstract:

We examined the role of two aspects of food restriction (lack of energy and lack of foraging substrate) in the development of stereotypies. Twenty-four second parity sows in the eighth week of gestation were classified according to their activity level. Sows within each group were randomly assigned to either a “high-energy” (HE, 1.7 times more energy than control diet), a “high-foraging” (HF, device placed inside the feeder for 1 h at meal time to increase feeding time), or a control (C) treatment, each providing a similar volume of food. The animals were observed once a week by scan sampling, for eight consecutive weeks. In the post-feeding period, HE and HF sows spent more time inactive than C sows, with HE sows being the least active. C and HF sows tended to perform more chain manipulation than HE sows, and vacuum chewing was higher for C sows. In the afternoon observation period, chain manipulation tended to be higher for HF sows, but vacuum chewing was not affected by treatments. Sows that had been initially classified as most active were also the most active throughout the experiment, spending more time manipulating the chain than sows in other categories. These results suggest that the long-term satiety induced by an increased energy level in the diet can potentially reduce the incidence of repetitive oral behaviours such as chain manipulating and vacuum chewing. However, providing more opportunity to forage at meal time without increasing meal size or energy level does not consistently affect repetitive oral behaviours. A lack of energy may therefore play a more important role in the development of stereotypies than a lack of foraging substrate around meal time.

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