Miranda Smit, Ken Engele, Jen-Yun Chou – The term environmental enrichment describes the changes (modifications or additions to the environment) designed to improve the living conditions of the pigs by allowing them to express a wider range of natural behaviours. Enrichment provides an outlet for expression of exploration, foraging, and play behaviour, which in turn decreases aggression, competition and stress, allowing for healthier and well-adapted pigs. Growing evidence suggests that these benefits continue beyond the period in which the enrichments are given.
We can group enrichments into the following categories: physical enrichment, social enrichment, nutritional enrichment, occupational enrichment, and sensory enrichment. When choosing physical enrichment for your swine barn there are six key factors to consider. Enrichment items should be safe, sanitary, simple, soft and suspended, with the site chosen also being an important aspect.
The proper selection, installation and maintenance of enrichments has shown to positively impact the bottom line of your operation. Lack of enrichment is known to result in more problematic behaviours such as tail-biting and belly-nosing and therefore we need practical and cost-effective solutions that producers can implement.
