Page 34 of articles about behaviour-welfare

Physiological post-mortem measures may, after the development of technological solutions for implementation at abattoirs, be used in daily operations as on-site tools for systematic monitoring of welfare.

Vaccination in females did not alter carcass and meat quality, and specific interests should consider reproductive behavior in free-range conditions.

Loose-housing of lactating gilts after a reduced postnatal crating period of 7 days affected neither the activity level of the gilts and lesions on the integument nor pre-weaning mortality. Therefore, it is recommended to allow sows to move around to some extent during the later lactation period.

Pre-weaning mortality (especially crushing by the sow) is higher in piglets raised in a multi-litter (ML) system until 9 weeks of age than in piglets raised in a single-litter (SL) system.

Our results suggest that at least at the chosen stocking densities, parity and space allocation have minimal effect on a number of commonly-used welfare measures.

Results of the present study revealed that behavioural patterns that are established when suckling reappear when forced to form a new dominance hierarchy after weaning.