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The effect of weaning weight and social challenges on an individual pigs ability to adapt to the postweaning environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

H. L. Edge ,
M. A. Varley  and
P. Rowlinson
H. L. Edge*
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, King George VI Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
M. A. Varley
Affiliation:
Provimi Ltd, SCA Mill, Dalton, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3HE, United Kingdom
P. Rowlinson
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, King George VI Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom
*
Email [email protected]
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Extract

Feed intake in the days immediately following weaning is both low and variable. This period is critical as low food intakes can lead to reduced digestive efficiency and suboptimal animal welfare. This is of commercial importance as performance around weaning has been shown to impact on the number of days an animal takes to reach a given slaughter weight (Mahan and Lepine 1991). If the variation in an individual’s performance could be characterised in terms of feeding behaviour and/or social status then production systems could be designed to optimise growth. In this trial liveweight gain during the late suckling period and liveweight gain, familiarity with penmates and social status (as determined by weight) after weaning were analysed to assess their impact on the performance of the post weaned pig.

Type
Ethology
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2003 , 2003 , pp. 105
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2003

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References

Mahan, D. C. and Lepine, A. J. 1991. Effect of pig weaning weight and associated nursery feeding programs on subsequent performance to 105 kilograms bodyweight. Journal of Animal Science 69: 1370–1378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar