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The responsiveness of suckling piglets to solid food presented in different forms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

P. J. A’Ness
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX
R. I. Horrell
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX
T. S. Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX
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Extract

The practice of early weaning of young piglets is associated with a sudden change in both their diet and their method of food acquisition. It can be argued that 4-week-old piglets are neither physiologically nor behaviourally prepared for these rapid changes and the provision of solid creep food is largely ineffective in facilitating adaption to weaning (Fraser et al., 1994). Previous studies which have attempted to promote solid food intake in pre-weaned piglets have tended to focus on dietary factors, such as palatability and digestibility (Bruneau and Chavez, 1995). However for ingestion to occur piglets must first perceive the food items and then establish an attraction to and acceptance of them.

Type
Poster abstracts
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1997

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References

Bruneau, C. D. and Chavez, E. R. 1995. Dietary preferences for cereals of nursing and weaned piglets. Livestock Production Science 41: 225231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D., Feddes, J. J. R. and Pajor, E. A. 1994. The relationship between creep feeding behavior of piglets and adaptation to weaning: effect of diet quality. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 74:16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar