Environmentally enriched housing conditions affect pig welfare, immune system and gut microbiota in early life.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Conventional pig housing and management conditions are associated with gastrointestinal pathophysiology and disease susceptibility in early life. Developing new strategies to reduce both therapeutic and prophylactic antibiotic use is urgent for the sustainable swine production globally. To this end, housing methodology providing effective environmental enrichment could be a promising alternative approach to reduce antibiotic usage, as it has been proven to positively influence pig welfare and immune status and reduce susceptibility to infections. It is, however, poorly understood how this enriched housing affects systemic and local pulmonary immune status and gut microbiota colonization during early life. In the present study, we compared the effects of two housing condi

SUBMITTER: Wen C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8320228 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature