Showing papers by "Michael Mendl published in 2000"
TL;DR: The causes and timing of piglet mortality were studied and the percentage livebom mortality was significantly associated with the parity and body length of the sows and with the within-litter variation in the birth weight of the piglets.
Abstract: The causes and timing of piglet mortality were studied in different farrowing systems. In the first experiment 198 litters were recorded in three systems, two of which allowed the sows to move freely, and the third restricted them in conventional crates. More piglets were weaned from the conventional crates than from the open systems and they grew more quickly. More than half the liveborn mortality occurred during the first four days after parturition. In the open systems, 17 per cent and 14 per cent of the piglets born alive were crushed, compared with only 8 per cent in the crates. In the second experiment, 29 sows and litters were studied in detail in a communal pen system during the first seven days of lactation. Three-quarters of the liveborn mortality was due to crushing. The total number of piglets dying per litter, including stillbirths, was significantly associated with the total litter size and the sow's parity. The percentage liveborn mortality was significantly associated with the parity and body length of the sows and with the within-litter variation in the birth weight of the piglets. Individual birth weight was closely associated with percentage survival. Only 28 per cent of piglets weighing less than 1.1 kg at birth survived to seven days.
231 citations
TL;DR: It can be concluded that observers showed significant agreement in their spontaneous assessment of pig expressions, which suggests that these assessments were based on commonly perceived and systematically applied criteria.
230 citations
TL;DR: This study extended the study of animal social tactics to the domestic pig, Sus scrofa, by using an experimental analogue of natural foraging skills, the 'informed forager' paradigm, and shows that pigs are able to remember and relocate the food site and exploit the knowledge of others by following them to a food source.
100 citations
TL;DR: The results show that the less diverse behaviour of SI pigs previously recorded in their home pens persists under novel conditions, supporting the hypothesis that substrate-impoverished housing conditions structurally affect the organization of behaviour in young growing pigs.
72 citations
TL;DR: Evidence of a recency effect in win-shift animals and a primacy effect in the win-stay group is found, and the unsuitability of these specific terms in this type of experiment is discussed, and an alternative interpretation of the results is proposed.
65 citations
01 Jan 2000
44 citations
TL;DR: The results suggest that routine husbandry procedures can disrupt short-term social memory, which may lead to an increase in aggression due to a failure of recognition, which has implications for the welfare of captive social animals.
40 citations
TL;DR: It appeared that increasing arousal in the pre- feeding period does affect activity and oral behaviours in the post-feeding period, however, some of the effects appeared in a more extended and diffuse manner, perhaps due to the general disturbance created by the experimental regime and the sows' experience of long-term food restriction.
11 citations