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FFL-JA-Forskningsmidlene for jordbruk og matindustri

Økt konkurransekraft, bedret grisevelferd og styrket verdiskapning - utvikling og dokumentasjon av velferdsfremmende tiltak for slaktegris

Alternative title: Optimal animal welfare for pork. Development and documentation of animal welfare measures

Awarded: NOK 6.1 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

296004

Project Period:

2019 - 2024

Organisation:

Location:

Griseløftet shall provide knowledge and develop tools that promote the welfare for finisher pigs. To face expectations from the consumers, the project will develop and document welfare-promoting measures for the finisher pig. Important questions are: Which individual-based welfare indicators are suitable in protocols? What is the relationship between registered welfare indicators and the welfare level in the herd? How do different types of and combinations of rooting material affect Norwegian finisher pigs? Which environmental criteria for piglets and weaners are important for welfare and production in the finisher pig? What is the relationship between environmental factors, environmental enrichment and meat quality for finisher pigs kept under Norwegian production conditions. How can digital solutions be best designed and used to achieve good registrations? How can digital registrations be used as a tool that advises the farmer directly on improvements that should be made? Status of work packages started: HP1 and HP 2: A welfare protocol has been developed for use in Norwegian finisher pig herds. The protocol covers conditions in the herd, pig welfare and social / physical environment and has been used in a field survey from 87 finisher pig herds throughout Norway. The survey included 78 herds with traditional, rectangular pens with concrete floors and 1/3 slatted floors (57 herds with 2-9 pigs /pen; 21 herds with 10-17). There were 7 herds with straw bedding large groups (24-201 pigs/ group) and 2 outdoor pig herds where all the finisher pigs went together in a single herd. Welfare and production-promoting elements in existing buildings and routines have been identified based on the data in the field survey. Just under 6% of the pigs per pen were fearful of humans, which also means that most of the pigs had relatively high confidence in humans. Almost 50% were direct contact seekers and the rest as uninterested in human contact. About 1% of the pigs per pen had hernias and there were few locomotory problems. Almost 8% of the pigs had bite marks or bite injuries on the tail; this is higher than what is registered at the slaughterhouse as we also registered on intact tails. Tail biting is not aggressively motivated, but a symptom of frustration and boredom in a stimulus-poor environment with little space. Herds with straw bedding had very little tail biting and the outdoor pig herds had no tail or ear-bitten pigs. Over 40% of the pigs per pen had bite injuries to their ears; this is most often associated with aggression when mixing, but also irritation due to lack of space or boredom. Just over 30% of the pigs per pen had less severe bite marks on the body, so fighting during the slaughter pig period is not a big problem as long as the groups are stable throughout the finisher pig period. The straw bedding herds were the herds where the pigs had the fewest wounds on their bodies. The proportion of pigs with bite marks on the body decreased with increased bin area regardless of herd type. Here, too, the traditional pens came out the worst. The type of root material the pigs had access to, had an effect on the incidence of injuries and wounds. Long straw gave fewer ear wounds and wounds on the body, while pigs that received wood shavings had more ear wounds. Root material also had an effect on tail wounds: access to hay gave fewer tail wounds, while wood shavings gave more tail wounds. Access to long straw also resulted in fewer wounds on the body. The results showed that the more litter that lay in the lying area, the fewer tail wounds and wounds on the body the pigs had. Adequate amount of litter on the lying area is therefore important. There were the fewest veterinary treatments per batch in herd and outdoor herds. Considering the most important individual-based welfare indicators, the herds with outdoor pigs and straw bedding indoors came out best, but there were challenges with a high ammonia level for some of the straw bedding herds. This is mainly due to the amount of new straw added not being sufficient in relation to the number of individuals in the pen. HP3: Evaluation of the effect of different types of root material on welfare and production were carried out. The finisher pigs' behavior was recorded using video recordings. The pigs were assigned the materials twice a day throughout the finisher pig period of twelve weeks. Preliminary results show that pigs that received rotary treatment (new type of material every week) and pigs that received straw, had the most positive behaviors, the fewest negatives and had few wounds and injuries. Peat stimulated positive behavior, but also aggression, which may be due to competition for resources. The control group, which received only a little sawdust, and pigs that received environmental feed, had little exploration, a high incidence of aggression and ear bites, and several wounds and injuries to the ears, tail and body.?

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I Norge har det foreløpig vært større fokus på smågrisproduksjonen og purkenes velferd enn slaktegrisens behov. Dette ønsker vi å gjøre noe med i Griseløftet. I prosjektet vil fire sentrale virksomheter knyttet til ulike deler av verdikjeden for svin (Nortura, Felleskjøpet Fôrutvikling, Norsvin R&D, Fjøssystemer), sammen med FoU-partner NMBU, samarbeide om å utvikle praktiske løsninger og tiltak for økt slaktegrisevelferd, inkludert løsninger for å dokumentere effekten av disse. Til sammen vil vi legge grunnlaget for videreutvikling av svinekjøtt-kategorien og økt verdiskapning. Viktige FoU-utfordringer i prosjektet er: • Hvilke individbaserte velferdsindikatorer er egnet i praktisk rettede protokoller til bruk for bonde, rådgivere og avlskonsulenter? • Hvordan er sammenhengene mellom registrerte velferdsindikatorer og velferdsnivå i hele besetningen? • Hvordan kan digitale løsninger best utformes og brukes for å oppnå gode registreringer? Hvordan kan digitale registeringer også utnyttes til å bli et verktøy som rådgir bonden direkte om forbedringer som bør gjennomføres? • Hva slags sammenhenger er det mellom miljøfaktorer, miljøberikelse og kjøttkvalitet hos slaktegris under norske produksjonsbetingelser • Hvordan virker ulike kombinasjoner av og typer rotemateriale (miljøberikelse) på norsk slaktegris? • Hvilke miljøkriterier hos sped- og smågris er vesentlige for velferd og produksjon hos slaktegrisen? Prosjektresultatene vil også bidra til kunne bygge et bredere mangfold i svinekjøttkategorien og med dette kunne tilby markedet produkter med kvaliteter som gir økte merverdier, bedre inntjeningsgrunnlag og totalt sett verdiheving i svinekjøttkategorien.

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Funding scheme:

FFL-JA-Forskningsmidlene for jordbruk og matindustri