DO DOMESTIC PIGS PREFER SHORT-TERM TO MEDIUM-TERM CONFINEMENT

A preference test was used to demonstrate that gilts have the ability to associate two sets of neutral cues with two different periods of co nfinement and water deprivation and to anticipate the long-term conseq uences of their choice in the test. Twelve gilts housed in two large, straw-bedded pens were trained to go to two sets of 12 crates, positio ned on each side of a choice point, for feeding twice a day. Following initial training, the two sets of crates were marked with contrasting visual patterns and the patterns were associated with either 30 min ( 'short' confinement) or 240 min ('long' confinement) of confinement in the crates after entry. During 16 days of preference testing, the gil ts were sent alternately to one side or the other in the mornings and allowed to.choose in the afternoons. Eight gilts chose the short confi nement side more often, two, the long confinement side more often and two, each side an equal number of times, indicating that most gilts le arned the association and preferred to be released shortly after feedi ng. However, gilts still chose the long confinement side on occasion, suggesting that they did not find 240 min of confinement very aversive . When the gilts were sent to the crates in the morning, their behavio ur indicated that they expected to be released or confined depending o n which crate they were in. The cognitive abilities of animals with re spect to perception of time and anticipation of future events have imp ortant implications for their welfare. This study demonstrates that me thods can be developed to ask animals about such things. (C) 1998 Else vier Science B.V. All rights reserved.