On-Farm Welfare Assessment Protocol for Suckling Piglets: A Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT: Piglets experience welfare issues during the nursery phase. This pilot study aimed to test a protocol for identifying the main welfare issues in suckling piglets and to investigate relationships among animal-based indicators and management conditions. Litters (n = 134), composed of undocked and tail-docked piglets, were assessed at two farms. After birth, observations were made at the age of 7 days and 20 days. At each observation, housing conditions (HCs) were measured, and 13 animal-based indicators, modified from Welfare Quality, Classyfarm, Assurewel and others introduced ex novo, were recorded. A generalized linear mixed model was used, considering animal-based indicators as dependent variables and farm, piglets' age, tail docking and HCs as independent variables. The main welfare iss

SUBMITTER: Vitali M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7341312 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature