Straw bedding or concrete floor for loose-housed pregnant sows: consequences for aggression, production and physical health

摘要

The effect of straw bedding on aggression, production and welfare in loose-housed, pregnant sows was studied in 14 commercial farms (number of sows per farm ranged from 10 to 16) in Norway, half of them with straw bedding and the other half with a concrete floor. The herds were visited twice and agonistic behaviour was observed. Body lesions, movement disorders and production results were also recorded. There were no significant differences in aggression, body lesions or production results betweenherds with concrete floor and herds with straw bedding. Movement disorders were more common in herds on concrete floors than in herds on straw bedding. Herds with a high score for movement disorders tended to have a higher percentage of sows returning tooestrus than herds with a low score. Individual data showed no significant correlation between production variables and body lesion score. However, the sows that were culled had a higher mean score for body lesions than the means of both types of farms.It is concluded that straw bedding is advantageous in preventing leg problems, but the presence of straw does not affect aggression among sows, incidence of body lesions or production results.