Reducing weaning stress: is pre-weaning socialisation a good strategy?
Published in 2021
Technical paper setting out the advantages and disadvantages of the two main techniques for socialising piglets housed indoors: one allows piglets to move freely between farrowing pens but not dams, and the other allows dams and piglets to interact freely. The outcomes of early socialisation are not only behavioural (more play, less aggression) but also physiological, with lower metabolic energy levels that could explain reductions in stress and aggression.
Document types: Technical Paper
Animal categories: Porcines
Keywords:Pain, Mutilations, Weaning, Stress, Breeding and rearing system