Environmental Enrichment for Sucker and Weaner Pigs: The Effect of Enrichment Block Shape on the Behavioural Interaction by Pigs with the Blocks

摘要

Simple SummaryHow often do intensively-housed pigs interact with enrichment devices, especially smaller pigs during the sucker and weaner phases of production? Understanding whether smaller pigs use such devices, whether habituation occurs, and whether device-shape influences the level of interaction by pigs are all relevant questions surrounding justification for including enrichment devices in pig pens. We provided litters of pigs from 10 to 60 days old with one of three different shaped enrichment blocks (cube, brick, or wedge) and recorded oro-nasal contact with the blocks on two days each week. Fresh blocks were provided weekly. While pig interaction with blocks was infrequent before about 25 days of age, contact with the blocks steadily increased thereafter. Brick-shaped blocks were used more than the other shapes, possibly because the brick-shape presented a wider surface for contact, allowing multiple pigs to simultaneously interact with the block. Pigs interacted more with 1-day-old (i.e., ‘fresh’) than 4-day-old blocks, suggesting that habituation to the blocks may have occurred.