Effects of re-grouping on behaviour, immune function and production in sows

摘要

The re-grouping of sows is a common procedure in pig production systems and is one which can have adverse consequences for both welfare and production (Arey and Edwards, 1998). Sows in an indoor dynamic group system, in which group structure was changed repeatedly, had a high rate of returns to service which may have been due to them receiving greater levels of aggression (Rigat et RAID., 1998). The aim of this experiment was to determine the effects of re-grouping on sow aggression and how this affected behaviour, immune function and productivity.