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Feeding Strategies to Reduce 'Frustration' and Aggression amongst Group Housed Gilts and Sows
13 Pages
1 Apr 0012
Author(s): Dr William van Wettere
This project investigated whether the provision of high fibre diets to group housed sows reduced the incidence of aggressive encounters. Although group housing has positive welfare benefits for the sow, competition for resources (food, space) and aggressive interactions between sows can limit the productivity of these systems and counteract welfare benefits. These results show that feeding sows a high fibre, bulky diet during the first 30 days of gestation reduces incidences of aggression, both during and following feeding, and did not impair subsequent litter size.
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