Assessment of pig farming procedures in terms of animal behaviour
Animal welfare is an important parameter for assessing the process quality of conventional as well as cost reduced farming procedures. The evaluation of animal welfare is possible in two different ways: Firstly, through indices, and secondly, through an empirical study aimed at the species choice behaviour.
Objectives:
The extend of animal welfare of different housing components for pigs will be investigated, using customized experimental designs. For this purpose, pig preference behaviour for specific environments and enrichment features as well as pigs` reaction to defined housing systems will be evaluated.
Data on frequency, sequence and duration of stay in functionally different areas will be collected and evaluated throughout the entire study period. The study aims at contributing to an improvement in the assessment of pig farming procedures in consideration of animal welfare issues.
Experimental Design:
The pigs will be kept in a cost reduced farming system and will be housed in huts on concrete flooring. Sensor-based data collection of animal behaviour will take place at four gates, two automatic feeders and two automatic drinkers. All elements are equipped with an automatic animal recognition. Ear responders ensure the individual electronic identification of the pigs. Using the four gates, three different housing areas can be fenced off. The flexible design of structure and equipment allows customization for different studies. In addition, animal behaviour can be recorded via a video based monitoring system.
Kaufmann, Otto Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. (Details) (Livestock Industries and Techniques in Animal Handling)
Duration of project
Start date: 12/2006
End date: 12/2012
Research Areas
animal welfare, Haltungssystem, keeping system, pig, Präferenzverhalten, preference behaviour, Schwein, Tiergerechtheit
