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Food intake and performance of newly-weaned pigs: effect of pairing with an experienced pig

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

C. A. Morgan
Affiliation:
Animal Biology Division, SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, Scotland
A. B. Lawrence
Affiliation:
Animal Biology Division, SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, Scotland
J. Chirnside
Affiliation:
Animal Biology Division, SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, Scotland
L. A. Deans
Affiliation:
Animal Biology Division, SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, Scotland
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Extract

In intensive pig production systems piglets are weaned at between 21 and 28 days of age and it is common for piglets to take a few days to discover and accept solid food as a source of nutrients and this results in a loss of weight (the weaning growth lag). Therefore, if a means could be found to encourage the acceptance of solid food by piglets, benefits in terms of their growth and welfare would ensue. The transmission of information about foods from one animal to another has been demonstrated in the rat (Galef, 1993) and ruminants (Provenza and Balph, 1987) but there have been no studies with pigs at the time of weaning. Therefore, piglets were tested in pairs of experienced and inexperienced animals, with varying degrees of contact, with constant access to food over a period of seven days after weaning of the inexperienced animals.

Type
Poster Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2001

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References

Galef, B. G. 1993. Functions of social learning about food: a causal analysis of effects of diet novelty on preference transmission. Animal Behaviour 46: 257265.Google Scholar
Provenza, F. D. and Balph, D. F. 1987. Diet learning by domestic ruminants: theory, evidence and practical implications. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 18: 211232.Google Scholar