The effect of early tactile stimulation on the behaviour and production in piglets
Project overview
More related research
Short summary
This project investigated how early handling of animals affects pigs’ ability to experience positive emotions in adulthood, with a focus on play and exploratory behaviors that contribute to improved welfare and development.
Previous research in different species has shown that early handling decreases fear of humans and has a buffering effect on stress later in life. The ability of coping with stressful situations increases. In this project, both direct effects of early human contact on production, handling and behaviour in pigs were investigated as well the pigs' ability to experience positive emotional states (by studying complex play behavior).
This is of interest since it may be that early handling improves their overall quality of life and prepares animals to possible future challenges. In this study, focus was on play and exploratory behaviour since these activities have beneficial effects on the fitness of the animal, as well as growth rate and effects on handling.
This project was financed by Formas as a part of Centre of Excellence in Animal Welfare Science.
Publications:
Daiana de Oliveira, Mateus J.R. Paranhos da Costa, Manja Zupan,Therese Rehn, Linda J. Keeling, 2015. Early human handling in non-weaned piglets: Effects on behaviour and body weight. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 164 (2015) 56–63.
Manja Zupan, Therese Rehn, Daiana de Oliveira, Linda J. Keeling. 2016. Promoting positive states: the effect of early human handling on play and exploratory behaviour in pigs. Animal 10:1 (2016) 135–141.