engleski

The impact of rubber flooring system on gilt postural behaviour

Flooring comfort influences many aspects of animal welfare including lying behaviour and frequency of posture exchange. Breeding females in intensive piggeries are mainly housed on concrete fully or partly slatted floors. These housing systems may result in discomfort, restlessness, more frequent posture exchange and injuring, in particular with the simultaneous effect of severe spatial restriction. The aim of the present study was to investigate if and to what extent the use of rubber mats affects gilt welfare by estimating their postural behaviour. Control and experimental groups (5 gilts each) were observed during 28-day production cycle in service unit in autumn season. Both groups were accommodated in concrete slatted floor individual stalls, additionally coated with adjusted textured rubber mats in experimental group. Postural behaviour of gilts was recorded from 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. on cycle days 1, 8, 15 and 28, using digital camcorders and analysis of camera images. Basic data processing was done by use of descriptive statistics methods and normality of data distribution was verified by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Statistical significance of between-group differences was assessed by Student's t-test. Control gilts spent most of the time standing and experimental gilts lying down, with a statistically significant between-group difference on all measurement days (P<0.05 all). The predominant form of lying behaviour in experimental group gilts was lateral posture in comparison with control sternal position. The gilts of both groups spent least of the time sitting. The duration of sitting and the frequency of posture exchange yielded no significant between-group differences, except for cycle day 1, when the gilts in concrete stalls were sitting for a significantly longer time, and cycle day 8, when the gilts in matted stalls showed a significantly higher frequency of posture changing (P<0.05 both). In conclusion, rubber mats increased lying comfort of gilts, suggesting this type of flooring system to improve their welfare.

gilt ; rubber flooring ; behaviour

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