Rearing pigs in highly enriched environments with a greater space allowance and provision of substrates (straw, mushroom compost, sawdust, wood branches) for rooting and chewing has been found to reduce the disease susceptibility of pigs to co-infection with PRRSv and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, increasing the speed of viral clearance and reducing the prevalence of lung lesions. However, provision of these types of substrates is not practical in fully slatted rearing systems and may present a biosecurity risk. Scientific evidence is limited and conflicting on the efficacy of chewable, inedible enrichments to influence the productivity, behaviour, or immune function of pigs. The aim of this work was to determine if provision of a rotation of slat compatible enrichments could beneficially influence the physiological responses of pigs when exposed to a disease challenge.
The provision of a rotation of inedible point-source enrichments to pigs reared in fully slatted housing increased the interaction with enrichment compared to provision of a single chain but was not effective at beneficially influencing the response of pigs to a natural disease challenge. The results of this work can help provide information for the development of sustainable and effective environmental enrichment practices that meet animal care requirements while supporting the health and economic viability of Canadian swine production.
Can slat-compatible enrichment influence the behaviour and response of pigs to a disease challenge? (full article)
