The Welfare of Pigs

In Europe, at the present time, there is a growing concern about the welfare of animals kept for production purpose. Technical advancements make it possible to produce more and more efficiently. However, the basic requirements for animal well-being are not always taken into account, partly because they need to be defined more precisely in order to be able to implement them. In the meeting on the welfare of pigs, organised under the supervision of the Commission of the European Communities, Directorate General for Agriculture, Division for the Coordination of Agricultural Research, scientists from all over Western Europe brought together relevant experimental data of physiological, veterinary, ethological and economic origin for a multidisciplinary discussion on this subject. The results of research studies were also reviewed in the light of possible practical applications and future research. The meeting was a fruitful first step in bringing together different opinions in order to arrive at a universally acceptable common solution for modern pig production. W. Sybesma SESSION I BEHAVIOURAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS OF PIGS IN GENERAL I. BASIC NEEDS Chairman: J.P. Signoret BEHAVIOURAL AND REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES IN WILD FORMS OF Sus scrota (EUROPEAN WILD BOAR AND FERAL PIGS) R. Mauget Centre d'Etudes Biologiques des Animaux Sauvages, 79360 Beauvoir, France.

Inhalt

BEHAVIOURAL AND REPRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES IN WILD FORMS OF Sus scrofa (EUROPEAN WILD BOAR AND FERAL PIGS).- Discussion.- Influence of Fixation on the Behaviour of Sows.- Discussion.- Physiology and Behaviour of Young Pigs in Relation to the Environment.- Discussion.- Animal Welfare in Agriculture - A Challenge for the Ethology.- Can Physiological Criteria be Used to Assess Welfare in Pigs?.- Discussion.- Parameters for Assessing Welfare, Ethological Criteria.- Discussion.- Losses Due to Inheritance and Housing as Criteria for the Welfare of Pigs.- Discussion.- The Development of a Blood Profile for Stress Assessment.- Discussion.- Observations on the Effects of Stocking Rate on the Performance of Gilts and Boars to Bacon Weight.- Discussion.- Characteristics of Pig Fattening Systems Involving Partially Slatted Floors.- Discussion.- Open Front Piggeries with and without Straw.- Discussion.- Welfare of Piglets in Flatdeck Cages.- Discussion.- Animal Well-Being and Housing Systems for Piglets.- Discussion.- Short Communication.- Danish Studies on Behaviour of Early Weaned Piglets: Preliminary Results.- Discussion.- Exogenous Stimuli and Reproduction of the Sow.- Discussion.- Some Aspects of Sow Health and Housing.- Discussion.- The Impact of the Farrowing Pen on the Sow and Her Piglets.- Discussion.- Welfare and the Housing of the Sow and Suckling Pigs.- Discussion.- Summing Up and Conclusions.- List of Participants.