THE PRE-FARROWING BEHAVIOR OF SOWS WITH ACCESS TO STRAW AND SPACE FORLOCOMOTION

Pre-farrowing behaviour in sows consists of a phase of increased restl essness and locomotion, and a phase of nest-building. The aim of the s tudy described here was to determine how the presentation of straw, a relevant nest-building material, affected the expression of pre-farrow ing restlessness. This would provide information on the relative contr ibution of internal and external stimuli to the expression of pre-farr owing behaviour which may allow us to understand better how confinemen t around farrowing affects the welfare of sows. In treatment 1, six so ws were given access to straw on the floor of a 2 x 2 m pen (which had previously been shown to be a preferred farrowing site) in one corner of a 6.5 x 7 m test arena. In treatment 2, twelve sows were given acc ess to straw in a hopper in the opposite corner of the test arena from the home pen. All sows were observed for 8 h per day from 4 days befo re farrowing was expected until farrowing actually occurred. In treatm ent 1, sows did not show a significant increase in locomotion compared to previous days (P greater than or equal to 0.05). However in treatm ent 2, when straw was provided in a hopper, the sows showed a signific ant increase in locomotion on the day before farrowing (P less than or equal to 0.01). In treatment 2, five of the sows carried straw from t he hopper to another location to use in their nest-building. The patte rn of locomotion in the hours before farrowing shown by sows that carr ied straw was different from those that did not (P less than or equal to 0.001), although there was no overall difference in the distance wa lked (P greater than or equal to 0.05). The results indicate that both internal and external factors affect the performance of pre-farrowing locomotion. In addition, it was also concluded that the motivation to perform nest-building behaviour is not particularly substrate-specifi c, and appears to be redirected at pen fixtures in the absence of more suitable material.