A comparison of postural changes and maternal responsiveness during early lactation in Landrace and Minpig sows

Abstract Maternal behaviour is one of the instinct behaviours associated with offspring survival. Minpig is a local breed in the Northeast of China known for its strong maternal sense. In this study, sows of Minpig ( n =30, parity 2–8) and Landrace ( n =21, parity 2–8) were farrowed in individual pens with access to a yard. Sow behaviour was videotaped for 72h in the second and third week after parturition. The results showed that the Minpig sows and Landrace sows were different in piglet-crushing behaviour (rolling, lying down from a sitting position or a standing position), lateral recumbency, ventral recumbency, and sitting and nursing behaviour (frequency of nutritive nursing and proportion of nursing terminated by the sow). The Minpig sows lie down at higher frequencies from a standing position, but crushing resulting from this movement in the Minpig sows was much less common than in the Landrace sows with only 10 crushing incidents compared to 32, respectively. Crushing occurred most often when the sows changed from the ventral recumbency position to lateral recumbency. In the present study, the total number of occurrences of piglet crushing by the Minpig sows was significantly lower ( P Landrace ones (17 vs. 74). The results indicate that the Minpig sows provided more chances for piglets to escape successfully when the piglets were trapped by her body, leading to 76.5% of the Minpig piglets successfully escaping compared to 18.9% of the Landrace piglets. To explore the reason behind the above results, the carefulness of the sows during standing-to-lying and the responsiveness of the sows to piglet distress calls were investigated. Compared with the Landrace breed, the Minpig sows scored higher in standing-to-lying carefulness ( F ¯ M i n p i g = 2.4994 , F ¯ L a n d r a c e = 2.1238 , P F ¯ M i n p i g = 1.7343 , F ¯ L a n d r a c e = 0.294 , P Minpig sows show stronger maternal instincts through their behavioural postures and their carefulness with piglets compared with the Landrace breed, and this difference may play an important role in the further exploitation of local breeds for the swine breeding program in China.

[1]  M. Herskin,et al.  Nest building and farrowing in sows: relation to the reaction pattern during stress, farrowing environment and experience , 2002 .

[2]  Beat Wechsler,et al.  Individual differences in the behaviour of sows at the nest-site and the crushing of piglets , 1997 .

[3]  P. Jensen,et al.  When to wean — Observations from free-ranging domestic pigs , 1989 .

[4]  Lotta Rydhmer,et al.  Metabolic state of the sow, nursing behaviour and milk production , 2003 .

[5]  D. Fraser,et al.  Behavioural perspectives on piglet survival. , 2020, Journal of reproduction and fertility. Supplement.

[6]  A. Lawrence,et al.  The responsiveness of sows to their piglets in relation to the length of parturition and the involvement of endogenous opioids , 1999 .

[7]  J. L. Wilkinson,et al.  The response of lactating sows to tactile, visual and auditory stimuli associated with a model piglet , 1991 .

[8]  Lene Juul Pedersen,et al.  Effects of feed-back from the nest on maternal responsiveness and postural changes in primiparous sows during the first 24 h after farrowing onset , 2003 .

[9]  M. Herskin,et al.  Nursing behaviour, postpartum activity and reactivity in sows , 2002 .

[10]  G. Cronin,et al.  The effect of piglet stimuli on the posture changing behaviour of recently farrowed sows , 1991 .

[11]  Anna Valros,et al.  Sow activity level, frequency of standing-to-lying posture changes and anti-crushing behaviour—within sow-repeatability and interactions with nursing behaviour and piglet performance , 2003 .

[12]  Judith K. Blackshaw,et al.  Getting-Up and Lying-Down Behaviours of Loose- Housed Sows and Social Contacts Between Sows and Piglets During Day 1 and Day 8 After Parturition , 1990 .

[13]  P. Jensen.  Maternal behaviour and mother—Young interactions during lactation in free-ranging domestic pigs , 1988 .

[14]  Donald M. Broom,et al.  The influence of sow behaviour on piglet mortality due to crushing in an open farrowing system , 2001 .

[15]  P. Jensen,et al.  Nursing and suckling behaviour of semi-naturally kept pigs during the first 10 days postpartum , 1991 .

[16]  J. Petherick.  A note on nursing termination and resting behaviour of suckling piglets , 1983 .

[17]  E. Swierstra,et al.  CAUSES OF PIGLET DEATH FROM BIRTH TO WEANING , 1987 .

[18]  J. McGlone,et al.  PRODUCTIVITY AND BEHAVIOR OF SOWS IN LEVEL VS SLOPED FARROWING PENS AND CRATES , 1990 .

[19]  Harold W. Gonyou,et al.  Increasing available space in a farrowing crate does not facilitate postural changes or maternal responses in gilts , 1998 .

[20]  David Fraser,et al.  Sow body movements that crush piglets: a comparison between two types of farrowing accommodation , 1996 .

[21]  Donald M. Broom,et al.  Factors affecting posture-changing in loose-housed and confined gestating sows , 1996 .

[22]  C. Vieuille,et al.  Sow behaviour involved in the crushing of piglets in outdoor farrowing huts—a brief report , 2003 .

[23]  K. Vestergaard,et al.  Behaviour of sows and piglets during farrowing under free-range conditions , 1990 .

[24]  David Fraser,et al.  Crushing of piglets by sows: effects of litter features, pen features and sow behaviour , 1998 .

[25]  Gudrun Illmann,et al.  Maternal behaviour of domestic sows and crosses between domestic sows and wild boar , 1999 .

[26]  E. Price,et al.  The effect of playback volume and duration on the response of sows to piglet distress calls , 1993 .