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Expert opinion regarding environmental enrichment materials for pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

MBM Bracke
MBM Bracke*
Affiliation:
Animal Sciences Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre, PO Box 65, 8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands
*
email: marc.bracke@wur.nl
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Abstract

The aim of this article is to report on the expert opinion regarding the provision of environmental enrichment for pigs. A questionnaire was sent to 53 pig welfare scientists who were asked to specify which enrichment materials they considered sufficient to ensure pig welfare; 68% responded. 89% stated that providing a chain was not sufficient, while 84% stated that the provision of straw could be sufficient. ‘Sustained animal-material interactions’, ‘rootability’, ‘manipulability’ and ‘chewability’ were the main material properties referred to as being required for enriching pig pens. Areas of further research suggested by the respondents encompassed both fundamental and applied research, including preference tests and demand studies, deprivation studies and quantitative studies to determine cut-off points. A case is made for modelling the available knowledge to help close the gap between what is known in science and what is decided in society regarding animal welfare and environmental enrichment for pigs.

Keywords

animal welfareenvironmental enrichmentEUhousingpigsquestionnaire
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , February 2006 , pp. 67 - 70
Copyright
© 2006 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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References

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