Abstracts - Management

Engaging in play increases heart rate variability, with this effect persisting into the period immediately after play.

Enriched housing from birth reduced disease severity to co-infection with PRRSV and A. pleuropneumoniae.

Play was successfully promoted and sustained until the finishing period and equally expressed regardless of extra space.

Meat inspection data were collected from 100,489 finishing pigs slaughtered in a northern Portuguese abattoir.

Trial runs were conducted in winter and summer to compare five deep-litter bedding materials.

The present pilot study supports the enhancement and implementation of UPAPS on farm and laboratory settings by minimally qualified observers.

Breeding for resilience traits based on deviations in longitudinal weight data can decrease pigs’ tail biting wounds, lameness and mortality while improving uniformity at the pen level.

The two most salient reasons outlined for the delay of timely euthanasia were uncertainty and misinterpretation of the chance for healing.

Findings suggest that the choice of point enrichment object can influence the level of interaction, level of interest over time, activity level, and skin lesions in growing pigs.

Intranasal application showed longer induction times, shorter recovery times and higher scores for defence and vocalisation.

This study investigates the potential of teaching gestating sows an individual sound signal to reduce aggression resulting from competition for feed access.

The study confirmed the biological mechanisms through immunological expression patterns according to stocking density.

Weaning a portion of the litter prior to mating in lactation improved pregnancy rates and embryo survival.

Females had a higher rate of permanence in the production system and low birth weight piglets had lower colostrum intake.

An added aroma increased pigs’ exploration behaviour towards the foam, and thus could serve as a distraction when inside a confined foam box.

The study suggests lavender essential oil may improve the welfare of growing pigs. Inhalation of lavendar reduced the nasal microbiome diversity.

An hourly feeding regime could optimize sow productive performance, body condition, milk yield, welfare, and piglet growth in swine production.

Primiparous sow aggression may be reduced by increasing space allowance during gestation with social training during the growing period.

Administering a second iron injection resulted in greater hemoglobin at weaning and the end of the nursery as well as improved growth performance from weaning to the end of study weight and increased carcass weight at slaughter.

The frequency of farrowing assistance in sows varied among herds and was influenced by parity number.

The increases in litter size and piglet survival rates due to balanced breeding policies lead to reduced total numbers of dead piglets coinciding with a certain pig production volume.

Postpartum administration of meloxicam to sows reduced clinical cases of disease, increased ADG in pigs, and increased carcass weight at slaughter.

Dominance rank of an individual can be estimated according to the feeding order, body weight or parity if there is enough variability in the group.

Biological sex mediates, at least in part, the physiological response to heat stress.