Table 4.
Behavior results during REMOVAL and RETURN of piglets
| Variable | Treatment* | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GROUP-FAN | ISO-FAN | ISO-QUIET | ||
| REMOVAL | ||||
| Posture | ||||
| Standing, % | 17.9 ± 8.2 | 16.4 ± 7.8 | 12.5 ± 8.4 | 0.89 |
| Sitting, % | 12.0 ± 4.7 | 9.8 ± 4.5 | 11.1 ± 4.9 | 0.95 |
| Lying, % | 68.4 ± 8.8 | 73.5 ± 8.1 | 79.9 ± 8.7 | 0.77 |
| Consuming | ||||
| Eating, % | 3.2 ± 5.0 | 11.8 ± 4.3 | 1.1 ± 4.4 | 0.14 |
| Drinking, % | 3.8 ± 1.8 | 2.0 ± 1.6 | 0.6 ± 1.6 | 0.33 |
| Not consuming, % | 92.9 ± 5.9 | 85.3 ± 5.2 | 98.8 ± 5.3 | 0.14 |
| Head orientation | ||||
| Alert, % | 10.2 ± 3.8 | 16.6 ± 3.6 | 21.4 ± 3.9 | 0.13 |
| Alert, # | 3.7 ± 0.9 | 3.5 ± 0.8 | 5.6 ± 0.9 | 0.18 |
| Rooting/nosing, % | 6.5 ± 1.7 | 2.6 ± 1.6 | 3.5 ± 1.8 | 0.25 |
| Rooting/nosing, # | 2.4 ± 0.6 | 0.9 ± 0.5 | 1.7 ± 0.6 | 0.17 |
| Not moving, % | 57.2 ± 8.8 | 55.1 ± 8.4 | 60.8 ± 9.0 | 0.90 |
| Other, % | 26.9 ± 7.0 | 26.3 ± 6.4 | 13.8 ± 6.7 | 0.27 |
| RETURN | ||||
| Posture | ||||
| Standing, % | 15.2 ± 7.5 | 21.6 ± 6.7 | 11.3 ± 6.8 | 0.51 |
| Sitting, % | 2.9 ± 2.1 | 2.1 ± 2.0 | 7.6 ± 2.1 | 0.15 |
| Lying, % | 80.8 ± 7.4 | 76.4 ± 6.7 | 80.8 ± 6.9 | 0.87 |
| Consuming | ||||
| Eating, % | 7.6 ± 5.4 | 13.6 ± 4.9 | 4.4 ± 5.0 | 0.39 |
| Drinking, % | 2.1 ± 0.8 | 1.0 ± 0.8 | 1.0 ± 0.8 | 0.51 |
| Not consuming, % | 89.8 ± 5.5 | 85.6 ± 5.0 | 94.7 ± 5.2 | 0.42 |
| Head orientation | ||||
| Alert, % | 2.6 ± 0.9 | 2.9 ± 0.8 | 4.1 ± 0.8 | 0.34 |
| Alert, # | 1.6 ± 0.5 | 2.0 ± 0.4 | 2.5 ± 0.4 | 0.31 |
| Rooting/nosing, % | 10.8 ± 3.0 | 17.3 ± 2.9 | 16.0 ± 3.1 | 0.29 |
| Rooting/nosing, # | 7.8 ± 1.5 | 10.2 ± 1.4 | 9.6 ± 1.5 | 0.48 |
| Not moving, % | 55.4 ± 8.9 | 43.5 ± 8.2 | 50.6 ± 8.5 | 0.61 |
| Other, % | 31.7 ± 7.1 | 36.5 ± 6.7 | 28.9 ± 6.9 | 0.72 |
| Initiation of nursing, s | 311.6 ± 61.7 | 355.2 ± 59.7 | 216.6 ± 63.2 | 0.29 |
All REMOVAL behaviors were recorded during a 5-min duration starting when the first piglet was removed from the farrowing crate until the first piglet was returned to the farrowing crate. The RETURN behavior observation was performed for 10 min after the first piglet was returned.
*Sow treatments were assigned as follows: 1) housed with eight other sows under constant fan noise (GROUP-FAN; n = 10), 2) housed alone with fan noise present (ISO-FAN; n = 10), and 3) housed alone without fans running (ISO-QUIET; n = 10).