2019 Volume 7 Issue 1 Pages 47-52
Changes of behavior and stress index in pregnant, Middle Yorkshire sows were examined in the days following transfer from individual feeding pens to farrowing pens with guardrails. Two groups of sows in late pregnancy were used for measurements: group 1 (n=3) were moved from indoor to outdoor pens; for group 2 (n=4), both types of pens were indoors. Behavioral observations were made for 5 days in the individual feeding pens and for 10 days in the farrowing pens. Saliva was collected for 10 days from sows in each type of pen. Samples of the pig’s coat grown during 10 days in each type of pen were collected for measurement of cortisol concentrations. In the first day after transfer to farrowing pens, the time allocated to lying was the highest and that allocated to standing was the lowest among the 10 days. The time budget between lying and standing in the first day after transfer to farrowing pens differed significantly from the budgets in the days in individual feeding pens, and from those on the 3th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th days (only standing on day 10) after transfer to farrowing pens (P<0.05). The concentration of cortisol in saliva on the first day after transfer to farrowing pens was higher than the value on the 2nd day in farrowing pens and higher than that in individual feeding pens. The concentration of cortisol in the coat of sows fed in farrowing pens for 10 days was significantly higher than that of sows fed in individual feeding pens for 10 days (P<0.05).
