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We studied the social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a conventional system with a sow in a farrowing crate (FC) or in a multi-suckling (MS) system in which 5 sows and their piglets could interact in a more physically enriched and spacious environment. After weaning at 4 weeks of age, 8 groups of 4 litter-mates per pre-weaning housing treatment were studied under equal and enriched post-weaning housing conditions. From each pen, one pair consisting of a dominant and a submissive pig was selected, based on a feed competition test (FCT) 2 weeks post-weaning. This pair was used in an informed forager test (IFT) which measured aspects of spatial learning and foraging strategies in a competitive context. During individual training, submissive (informed) pigs learned to remember a bait location in a testing arena with 8 buckets (the same bucket was baited in a search visit and a subsequent relocation visit), whereas dominant (non-informed) pigs always found the bait in a random bucket (search visits only). After learning their task, the informed pigs' individual search visit was followed by a pairwise relocation visit in which they were accompanied by the non-informed pig. Effects of pre-weaning housing treatment were not distinctly present regarding the occurrence of aggression in the FCT and the learning performance during individual training in the IFT. During paired visits, informed and non-informed pigs changed their behaviour in response to being tested pairwise instead of individually, but MS and FC pigs showed few distinct behavioural differences.

A prospective longitudinal study was carried out on 39 outdoor breeding pig farms in England in 2003 and 2004 to investigate the risks associated with mortality in liveborn preweaning piglets. Researchers visited each farm and completed a questionnaire with the farmer and made observations of the paddocks, huts and pigs. The farmer recorded the number of piglets born alive and stillborn, fostered on and off and the number of piglets that died before weaning for 20 litters born after the visit. Data were analysed from a cohort of 9424 liveborn piglets from 855 litters. Overall 1274 liveborn piglets (13.5%) died before weaning. A mixed effect binomial model was used to investigate the associations between preweaning mortality and farm and litter level factors, controlling for litter size and number of piglets stillborn and fostered. Increased risk of mortality was associated with fostering piglets over 24h of age, organic certification or membership of an assurance scheme with higher welfare standards, farmer's perception that there was a problem with pest birds, use of medication to treat coccidiosis and presence of lame sows on the farm. Reduced mortality was associated with insulated farrowing huts and door flaps, women working on the farm and the farmer reporting a problem with foxes., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We investigated effects of loose housing of the sow during lactation and enrichment of the pen pre- and postweaning on performance of newly weaned piglets. Before weaning, piglets (n = 320) were housed in an enriched (straw, wood shavings, peat, and branches) or barren pen with a confined or loose-housed sow (n = 32). Loose-housed sows and their piglets could eat together from a family feeder, whereas confined sows and piglets had separate feeding troughs. Piglets (n = 256) were mixed postweaning, and 4 piglets from each litter were relocated to a barren pen (n = 32 pens) and 4 other piglets were housed in an enriched pen (n = 32 pens). Growth from d 15 until weaning was greater for piglets from enriched pens (4.38 ± 0.29 vs. 4.71 ± 0.21 kg/pig, P < 0.05) and tended to be greater for piglets with a loose-housed sow compared with piglets with a confined sow (4.41 ± 0.26 vs. 4.67 ± 0.24 kg/pig, P = 0.10). Preweaning feed intake was not affected by preweaning conditions (P > 0.25). Piglets from enriched preweaning pens ate more in the first 2 d postweaning than piglets from barren pens (first 48 h, barren 0.45 ± 0.05 kg/pig, enriched 0.53 ± 0.04 kg/pig, P < 0.05). Piglets relocated to an enriched pen after weaning showed a greater growth in the 2 wk after weaning (barren 5.5 ± 0.2 kg/pig, enriched 6.2 ± 0.2 kg/pig, P < 0.0001), had a profoundly reduced diarrhea prevalence than piglets housed in barren pens after weaning (barren 2.4 ± 0.4 d, enriched 1.0 ± 0.3 d, P < 0.0001), and had a greater feed efficiency (barren 0.81 ± 0.03, enriched 0.85 ± 0.02, P < 0.05). Enrichment of the preweaning environment likely stimulates development of feeding behaviors and consequently increases feed intake immediately after weaning. Providing piglets with an enriched environment after weaning positively affected postweaning growth, feed efficiency, and incidence of diarrhea, which may be caused by decreased stress or increased gut health. Enrichment of the pre- and postweaning environment seems important in improving performance and health of newly weaned pigs.

Background: Sialic acid, a key component of both human milk oligosaccharides and neural tissues, may be a conditional nutrient during periods of rapid brain growth., Objective: We tested the hypothesis that variations in the sialic acid content of a formula milk would influence early learning behavior and gene expression of enzymes involved in sialic acid metabolism in piglets., Design: Piglets (n = 54) were allocated to 1 of 4 groups fed sow milk replacer supplemented with increasing amounts of sialic acid as casein glycomacropeptide for 35 d. Learning performance and memory were assessed with the use of easy and difficult visual cues in an 8-arm radial maze. Brain ganglioside and sialoprotein concentrations and mRNA expression of 2 learning-associated genes (ST8SIA4 and GNE) were measured., Results: In both tests, the supplemented groups learned in significantly fewer trials than did the control group, with a dose-response relation for the difficult task (P = 0.018) but not the easy task. In the hippocampus, significant dose-response relations were observed between amount of sialic acid supplementation and mRNA levels of ST8SIA4 (P = 0.002) and GNE (P = 0.004), corresponding with proportionate increases in protein-bound sialic acid concentrations in the frontal cortex., Conclusions: Feeding a protein-bound source of sialic acid during early development enhanced learning and increased expression of 2 genes associated with learning in developing piglets. Sialic acid in mammalian milks could play a role in cognitive development.

Data from 67 pig farms with a variety of farrowing systems were used to identify factors associated with preweaning mortality in British pig herds. The median mortality reported by the farmers was 10.7 per cent (interquartile range 8.5 to 14 per cent). There was a significantly higher mortality when the pigs were weaned when they were older. A multivariable Poisson model was developed into which the types of farrowing system on each farm and the age at weaning were forced. Factors associated with a lower preweaning mortality rate were insulating the farrowing building, providing extra heat at farrowing, giving the piglets iron injections, dipping their navels, using fan ventilation and using artificial lighting systems. Factors associated with a higher mortality rate were a later weaning age, the use of infra-red lamps rather than other forms of supplementary heat, and the use of a creep without any bedding.

We studied the social and cognitive performance of piglets raised pre-weaning either in a conventional system with a sow in a farrowing crate (FC) or in a multi-suckling (MS) system in which 5 sows and their piglets could interact in a more physically enriched and spacious environment. After weaning at 4 weeks of age, 8 groups of 4 litter-mates per pre-weaning housing treatment were studied under equal and enriched post-weaning housing conditions. From each pen, one pair consisting of a dominant and a submissive pig was selected, based on a feed competition test (FCT) 2 weeks post-weaning. This pair was used in an informed forager test (IFT) which measured aspects of spatial learning and foraging strategies in a competitive context. During individual training, submissive (informed) pigs learned to remember a bait location in a testing arena with 8 buckets (the same bucket was baited in a search visit and a subsequent relocation visit), whereas dominant (non-informed) pigs always found the bait in a random bucket (search visits only). After learning their task, the informed pigs' individual search visit was followed by a pairwise relocation visit in which they were accompanied by the non-informed pig. Effects of pre-weaning housing treatment were not distinctly present regarding the occurrence of aggression in the FCT and the learning performance during individual training in the IFT. During paired visits, informed and non-informed pigs changed their behaviour in response to being tested pairwise instead of individually, but MS and FC pigs showed few distinct behavioural differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment investigated whether domestic pigs can remember the locations of food sites of different relative value, and how a restricted retrieval choice affects their foraging behaviour. Nine juvenile female pigs were trained to relocate two food sites out of a possible eight in a spatial memory task. The two baited sites contained different amounts of food and an obstacle was added to the smaller amount to increase handling time. On each trial, a pig searched for the two baited sites (search visit). Once it had found and eaten the bait, it returned for a second (relocation) visit, in which the two same sites were baited. Baited sites were changed between trials. All subjects learnt the task. When allowed to retrieve both baits, the subjects showed no preference for retrieving a particular one first (experiment 1). When they were allowed to retrieve only one bait, a significant overall preference for retrieving the larger amount emerged across subjects (experiment 2). To test whether this preference reflected an avoidance of the obstacle with the smaller bait, 15 choice-restricted control trials were conducted. In control trials obstacles were present with both baits. Pigs continued to retrieve the larger bait, indicating they had discriminated between the two food sites on the basis of quantity or profitability and adjusted their behaviour accordingly when the relocation choice was restricted. This suggests for the first time that domestic pigs have the ability to discriminate between food sites of different relative value and to remember their respective locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]