Reproduction performances and conditions of group-housed non ...

- Paper III -
performed. The sow had to pass a human (a research technician) at a passage of 10 metres
long and about one meter wide. The relation between the time required to approach the per-
son (AB) compared to the total time required to pass the 10 metres (AC) was calculated
(=AB/AC). If the sow had not passed the 10 metres after two minutes the test was stopped.
If the AB was more than two minutes the value of AB/AC was specified as 1. Sows with
AB/AC values of > 0.67 were categorized as fearful.
In the home pen of the F-sows, a forced human approach (FHA-test) (Andersen et al.,
2003) was performed. A research technician entered the home pen quietly, approached the
sow and squatted down immobile 20 cm from the sows for 30 seconds. The sow’s reaction
was categorised into one of six possible reactions: 1. Fled at a distance of more than 1 m
from the technician, 2. Withdrew some steps away from or turned her head away from the
technician, and stayed there ore continued with activity for the rest of the test period, 3.
Withdrew some steps away from or turned her head away from the technician, but approached
the technician again and initiated physical contact within the test period, 4. Neither
withdrew from nor approached the technician, but remained in the same posture or
continued with activity, 5. Remained in the same posture or continued with activity, but
seeked contact with the technician before the end of the test period or 6. Approached and
initiated physical contact with the technician (pers. comm., Andersen 2003). Sows with
reaction 1 or 2 were categorized as fearful.
After the FHA test a forced human touch test (FHT-test) (Pedersen et al., 2003) was performed.
The technician approached the head of the sow and touched or tried to touch the
sows neck. The sows reaction was divided into three reactions: 1. Fled before touching her
neck was possible/fled with or without squaling/stood immobile holding the head still while
keeping the eyes fixed, 2. Walked away without squealing or 3. Stood calmly/moved the
head towards the technician/approached the technician (Pedersen et al., 2003). Sows with
reaction 1 were categorised as fearful.
The FHA and the FHT tests were performed outside the sows’ expected resting period.
Based upon previous studies (Jensen et al., 1996) and statements from the individual farmers,
resting period was chosen as between 11 and 13 PM in all 14 herds.
Sows may use feeding stalls as an escape possibility during fighting (Olsson & Samuelsson,
1993 cf. Arey & Edwards, 1998) and frequency of reside in stalls may reflect level of fear
towards the other sows in the group. Therefore, for each F-sow, it was recorded whether the
sow was in box or not for each 10 minute the first hour after weaning and half an hour at
mating and three weeks after mating. Number of times the sow was in box compared to
number of recordings (7 or 4) was calculated for each F-sow (% in box).
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