Abstract

In this experiment, 156 piglets (female) at 74-78 days of age were selected from the same environment, and randomly moved to the concrete pen with or without straw (so called Straw pen or Barren pen) after weighed. After a week’s pre-experiment, there was an eight-week experiment. Feed intake and weight gain were recorded. Three piglets per litter were randomly selected to measure cortisol and GH before and after the experiment. Results showed that, straw can lower cortisol concentration, but GH, feed intake, weight gain and feed/gain ratio did not significantly differ between treatments. So a small quantity of straw refreshed daily that reduced stress and had no negative impact on performance is an inexpensive way to improve growing pig’s welfare.

Keywords:

Cortisol, Growing pig, GH, performance, straw,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.