Eva Mainau

Effects of meloxicam (Metacam®) on post-farrowing sow behaviour and piglet performance.

Farrowing is an intrinsically risky process for both the sow and the piglets that can cause welfare and economic problems. The effects of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam on post-farrowing behaviour of sows, and the performance of piglets were investigated. A total of 48 sows were randomly allocated at the day of farrowing (day 0) into two homogeneous groups regarding parity, and treated with either meloxicam or saline solution as placebo. For each sow, number of position changes, total time lying and standing or sitting, feed intake and rectal temperature (RT) were recorded during 3 days after farrowing. Piglets were individually weighed at farrowing and at weaning. The number of position changes did not show significant differences between treatments (P = 0.79). Sows spent significantly less time lying during day +3 after farrowing in the meloxicam group than in the placebo group (P = 0.04). Feed intake and RT showed a parity effect (P < 0.001 in both cases); however, no treatment effect was observed (P = 0.67 and P = 0.47, respectively). Pre-weaning mortality rate in piglets was not affected by treatment. In litters from multiparous sows, piglets of low birth weight (defined as percentile 15: BW <1180 g) had an average daily gain significantly higher in the meloxicam group than in the placebo group (196.6 ± 7.2 v. 166.6 ± 9.1 g/day; P = 0.03). Although the administration of meloxicam 90 min after farrowing showed a positive effect on the total time lying of the sows, additional investigations are required to better qualify relevant indicators of pain following farrowing in sows and to specify the analgesic effects of meloxicam on piglet performance.

Comparison of meat quality parameters in surgical castrated versus vaccinated against gonadotrophin-releasing factor male and female Iberian pigs reared in free-ranging conditions.

This study compared carcass and meat quality traits between 16 vaccinated (VF), 19 castrated (CF) and 8 entire (EF) female Iberian pigs, and between 21 vaccinated (VM) and 19 castrated (CM) male Iberian pigs reared in free ranging conditions. Vaccination consisted in the application of Improvac® at the age of 11, 12 and 14 months in VF and VM. Pigs were slaughtered at 16 months. In females, carcass and meat quality were found to be very similar regardless of the treatment. In males, VM had a leaner carcass, lower (P < 0.05) percentage of intramuscular fat, higher shear force and more rancidity than CM(P < 0.05 in all cases). It could be concluded that vaccination or suitable for free-range conditions in terms of product qualities. Vaccination in females did not alter carcass and meat quality, and specific interests should consider reproductive behavior in free-range conditions.

Experimental study on the effect of oral meloxicam administration in sows on pre-weaning mortality and growth and immunoglobulin G transfer to piglets

Parturation is an intrinsically risky and painful process for both the sow and the piglets that can cause welfare and economic problems. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been demonstrated to partially alleviate inflammation and pain after farrowing in sows. NSAIDs effects on piglet mortality and performance show discrepancies and no previous studies have investigated the underlying mechanism. The effects of oral meloxicam treatment to sows on immunoglobulin G (IgG) transfer to piglets around farrowing were investigated. A total of 30 multiparous sows were randomly treated with either oral meloxicam or a mock administration as control group. Treatment was administered as soon as possible at the beginning of the farrowing. A total of 325 piglets were individually weighed at farrowing (day 0) and at weaning (day +21) and piglet mortality was registered during lactation. Four piglets per sow (two piglets suckling from anterior teats and two piglets suckling from posterior teats) were selected for blood sampling at day +1, day +2 and day +20 for IgG analyses. Oral meloxicam treatment to sows significantly increased weight at weaning (mean±SE: 6563±86.3g from oral meloxicam group and 6145±103.2g from control group; P=0.0017) and ADG (mean±SE: 236±3.4g/day from oral meloxicam group and 217±4.5g/day from control group; P<0.001) during lactation, but failed to reduce piglet mortality during lactation (6.7% from oral meloxicam group and 6.8% from control group; P=0.89). IgG levels in piglets from the sows treated with oral meloxicam were significantly higher than the control group at day +1 (mean; median [95% CI] for median=31.9; 31.7 [29.6-33.6] vs. 27.9; 26.8 [25.9-28.3] mg/ml, P=0.0013) and day +2 (27.6; 27.0 [24.8-29.6] vs. 24.5; 24.2 [22.1-25.3] mg/ml, P=0.01). However, at day +20, IgG level in piglet serum was not significantly affected by the treatment (7.6; 7.6 [6.7-8.4] vs. 7.1; 6.9 [6.4-7.3] mg/ml, P=0.59). The administration of meloxicam orally at the beginning of the farrowing in multiparous sows increased the concentration of IgG in serum of piglets and enhanced their pre-weaning growth. Future research is warranted to clearly identify the proximate mechanism behind IgG effect.

Effects on pig immunophysiology, PBMC proteome and brain neurotransmitters caused by group mixing stress and human-animal relationship

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are an interesting sample for searching for biomarkers with proteomic techniques because they are easy to obtain and do not contain highly abundant, potentially masking proteins. Two groups of pigs (n = 56) were subjected to mixing under farm conditions and afterwards subjected to different management treatments: negative handling (NH) and positive handling (PH). Serum and PBMC samples were collected at the beginning of the experiment one week after mixing (t0) and after two months of different handling (t2). Brain areas were collected after slaughter and neurotransmitters quantified by HPLC. Hair cortisol and serum acute phase proteins decreased and serum glutathione peroxidase increased at t2, indicating a lower degree of stress at t2 after adaptation to the farm. Differential gel electrophoresis (DIGE) was applied to study the effects of time and treatment on the PBMC proteome. A total of 54 differentially expressed proteins were identified, which were involved in immune system modulation, cell adhesion and motility, gene expression, splicing and translation, protein degradation and folding, oxidative stress and metabolism. Thirty-seven protein spots were up-regulated at t2 versus t0 whereas 27 were down-regulated. Many of the identified proteins share the characteristic of being potentially up or down-regulated by cortisol, indicating that changes in protein abundance between t0 and t2 are, at least in part, consequence of lower stress upon adaptation to the farm conditions after group mixing. Only slight changes in brain neurotransmitters and PBMC oxidative stress markers were observed. In conclusion, the variation in hair cortisol and serum APPs as well as the careful analysis of the identified proteins indicate that changes in protein composition in PBMC throughout time is mainly due to a decrease in the stress status of the individuals, following accommodation to the farm and the new group.

Effect of handling on neurotransmitter profile in pig brain according to fear related behaviour

Chemical neurotransmitters (NT) are principal actors in all neuronal networks of animals. The central nervous system plays an important role in stress susceptibility and organizes the response to a stressful situation through the interaction of the dopaminergic and the serotonergic pathways, leading to the activation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). This study was designed to investigate: a) the effects of stressful handling of pigs at the slaughterhouse on the neurotransmitter profile in four brain areas: amygdala, prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus and hypothalamus, and b) whether the alterations in the brain NT profile after stressful handling were associated with fear, determined by the tonic immobility (TI) test. In the first place, the characterization of the NT profile allowed to distinguish the four brain areas in a principal component analysis. The most crucial pathway involved in the reaction of pigs to a stressful handling was the serotonergic system, and changes were observed in the amygdala with a decrease in serotonin (5-HT) and total indoleamines, and in the hippocampus, where this pathway was activated. Fearful and non-fearful pigs did not show significant differences in their NT profile in control conditions, but when subjected to a stressful handling in the slaughterhouse, fearful animals showed a significant variation in the serotonin pathway and, in a lesser extent, the dopamine (DA) pathway. In conclusion, the existence of an underlying biological trait - possibly fearfulness - may be involved in the pigs response toward stressful challenges, and the serotonergic system seems to play a central role in this response.

Reliability of Fear Assessment in Growing Pigs Exposed to a Novel Object Test in Commercial Conditions

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to assess the reliability and feasibility of a novel object test assessing fear in pigs in commercial conditions. A total of 18 commercial farms were visited, and 321 pens housing 4,220 growing pigs were assessed. Three balloons were used as a novel stimulus. Measures were (a) the time it took for the first pig to contact 1 of the balloons, (b) percentage of nonhuman animals watching the balloons each for 10 s, and (c) percentage of animals touching the balloons during periods of 5 s. The time of the first pig to contact 1 of the balloons ranged from 0 s to 362 s. An effect of the farm was found (p < .0001) for contact latency, ranging from 6.8 s to 73.3 s, but little difference was found in terms of intrafarm variability. Interobserver repeatability was also high in this measure, ranging from r = .74 to r = .96. As a result, it is concluded that contact latency could be a good measure to assess fear of a novel stimulus in commercial farms.

On-farm and post-mortem health assessment

Abstract Methods for animal welfare assessment are in constant evolution increasing the collection easiness and validity of animal welfare measures. The combination of on farm and at slaughter welfare assessment is fundamental to achieve a complete health assessment. The so-called ‘Precision Livestock Farming’ concept integrates computing and sensing technologies that allows recording numerous behavioural, physiological and metabolic data in livestock species. Additionally, experience from our own research and that of colleagues evidences the development of new animal-based measures of welfare that can be routinely assessed in an extensive range of contexts. The validation of indicators that can be used during meat inspection to assess health and other related issues is a good example of this. The expertise of vet pig practitioners and producers should be integrated with pig welfare research in order to improve the health of the animals. Therefore, knowledge exchange platforms that include the main actors in the pig production chain will be of paramount importance.

Opinion paper: implementing pig welfare legislation: difficulties and knowledge-exchange strategies

It has become increasingly clear that pig producers face difficulties to implement the EU legislation on animal welfare. The switch from individual sow stalls to group housing of gestating sows from January 2013 is one clear example of the difficulties found in several Member States (MS) to implement the current ‘Pig Directive’ (EU-Directive 2008/120/EC). Besides, clear cases of non-compliance, a significant number of pig producers left the industry and allowed their herds to run down because they felt unable to comply with the new legislation. This impact on the pig sector affected mostly small-scale producers. In 2013, the Commission, via a letter of formal notice, called several MS to take action to address deficiencies in the implementation of the EU legislation increasing pressure on MS to enforce group housing of sows. In the near future, producers will certainly be asked to increase compliance on issues such as the use of manipulable material. Increasing concerns on this item are illustrated by the EFSA reports on tail biting and tail docking (e.g. EFSA, 2007, 2011, 2014) and the meetings organized by the European Commission on the development of guidelines concerning the issue of enrichment material.

Effect of high temperatures on breeding rabbit behaviour

The present work is focussed on the behavioural response of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) housed in typical commercial conditions subjected to two different environmental temperature circadian cycles: one below the combination of temperature and humidity that is considered as stressful for rabbits, and the other with some hours a day subjected to moderately stressful temperatures. During the experiment, a total of 55 commercial breeding hybrid rabbits were housed in each room (43 nulliparous does and 12 bucks). Of these, 10 females (six 105 days old and four 80 days old) and 6 males (180 days old) were studied for 12 days, 12 h a day using video cameras to later scan sample for behaviour at 5-min intervals. Rabbits were divided into two rooms. Five females and three males were housed at 18.4°C mean temperature (Room A). The other five females and three males were housed at 20.1°C for 17 h a day, and at a temperature humidity index from 23.6 to 28.2 for the remaining 7 h (Room B). Posture (lying, sitting, prostrated or moving) and behaviour (grooming, exploring, resting, feeding and drinking) were assessed. Faecal cortisol metabolites (FCM) were also analysed, once before and after the behavioural study, from seven samples in each room. Statistical analyses were performed using the GENMOD procedure in SAS. No differences were found between rooms in FCM during the behaviour assessment. However, the presence of resting behaviour and prostration was higher (P < 0.05) in Room B than Room A and the opposite (P < 0.05) was observed for lying, sitting and exploring. In the case of grooming, a compensatory effect was observed in Room B, as rabbits reduced this activity in the warmest period of the day but increased it just before and after this period, which was not seen in Room A. It is concluded that behavioural changes can be observed in does and bucks subjected to moderately stressful thermal conditions before those changes can be seen in faecal cortisol concentration.