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Anna Johnson is a swine welfare expert, and an animal science professor at Iowa State University. Anna Johnson creates programs, education tools, and assessment criteria in order to protect farm animal health. Johnson has received awards for her research on animal handling, sow longevity and management. Before her employment at Iowa State (2005 - ) she was the director of animal welfare for the National Pork Board.

Education:

-       Bachelor’s – University of Reading (1995)

-       Master’s – University of Edinburgh (1997) – Animal Behavior and Animal Welfare

-       Doctorate – Texas Tech University (2001) – Animal Science

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Post #16 - Negative Effects of High Stress Handling

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Post #16 - Negative Effects of High Stress Handling

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1- Reduce animal’s immune system (causing lower resistance to disease)

2- Lowered productivity

3- Reduced reproductive performance at many levels (failure to ovulate, sexual behavior problems, failure to conceive, miscarriage, premature birth, maternal behavior problems)

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Landsberg, Gary M., and Sagi Denenberg. “Behavioral Problems of Swine.” Merck Veterinary Manual, https://www.merckvetmanual.com/behavior/normal-social-behavior-and-behavioral-problems-of-domestic-animals/behavioral-problems-of-swine

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Most of a pig’s feeding takes place during the day, making then essentially diurnal animals. The feeding behavior of pigs is a circadian rhythm that can be modified by environmental temperatures. The higher the temperature the less the pigs eat, and vice versa, the colder the temperature the more they eat. The amount of meals a pig eats can be affected by their age and size, the older and/or bigger the pig is, the less they eat. Pigs housed in groups eat more than those who are housed individually.

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Purina® Feed Greatness™ Challenge | Show Pigs

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Chemical Communication: pheromones are released from the pigs in order to provide information to other pigs within their population. These pheromones can provide information on sexual maturity as well as hierarchy status to other pigs in the population.

Tactile Communication: To investigate a new pig added to a population the present animals will nose at the newcomer. They will bump it with their noses allowing for them to show their social ranks as well as get the scent from the new animal.
Citation:

Landsberg, Gary M., and Sagi Denenberg. “Social Behavior of Swine.” Merck Veterinary Manual, Merck Veterinary Manual, www.merckvetmanual.com/behavior/normal-social-behavior-and-behavioral-problems-of-domestic-animals/social-behavior-of-swine.

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Auditory:

Pigs communicate primarily through auditory communication. There are approximately twenty different sounds that are used by swine to communicate. The most common, and most well-known, sound made by swine to communicate is their grunt. Often times pigs grunt when they hear a familiar sound or when rooting. Shorter grunts imply excitement and the longer grunts are a contact call and are associated with pleasurable stimuli. Squealing when aroused, barking as a threat, and screaming when hurt are also auditory forms of communication in swine.

Visual:

Visual signals in pigs are not as well developed as auditory signals. Tail positioning indicates the well-being of the pig. If the tail is tightly curled it indicates that the pig is healthy, but if the tail is twitching it indicates skin irritation. It is possible that these visual signals may not be as noticeable in mass production because of the clipping of piglets’ tails.

Citation:

Landsberg, Gary M., and Sagi Denenberg. “Social Behavior of Swine.” Merck Veterinary Manual, Merck Veterinary Manual, www.merckvetmanual.com/behavior/normal-social-behavior-and-behavioral-problems-of-domestic-animals/social-behavior-of-swine.

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No information could be found on sensory bias and learning in swine. I looked under Milner library, google scholar, and standard google for sources. I was unable to find any documents using the keywords: swine/pig, sensory bias, and learning - in varying organizations/arrangments.

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Classical Conditioning

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The Milner Library proxy server will allow authorized individuals to use the indexes and databases when connecting through a computer off-campus.

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Neonatal Behaviors:
-Piglets huddle together to conserve heat

-Rub snout around udder for about a minute before suckling

-Suckle from sow

-Establish a teat order

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Maternal Behaviors:
·      Laying on their side, and rolling over occasionally to allow for nursing

·      First 1-2 days, eats very little and stays near nest (free-range)

·      When standing ploughs with snout at bedding in order to alert offspring before lying down.

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When looking at the sexual behaviors of sows the most important behavior is their willingness to stand still to be mounted. When boar pheromones are sprayed on the nose of a sow the rigidness, pricked ears, and shaking will occur. The pheromones that can be used can induce a standing heat without the presence of a boar.

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The boar and sow will participate in head-to-head sniffing. The boar will then sniff the sow’s rear and push on the sow from it’s side. The boar will then lick and push at the sow’s rear, resulting in a mounting attempt. Both sniffing and nosing can result in a mounting attempt. If this attempt is successful then copulation takes place.

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FUN FACT: Pigs snuggle close to one another and prefer to sleep nose to nose. It is believed that pigs have the ability to dream.

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The most sensitive stage of a pigs development is between 14-17 weeks, during this state any negative or unpleasant experiences can influence delayed sexual maturity and result in late first farrowing.

Citation:

Landsberg, Gary M., and Sagi Denenberg. “Social Behavior of Swine.” Merck Veterinary Manual, www.merckvetmanual.com/behavior/normal-social-behavior-and-behavioral-problems-of-domestic-animals/social-behavior-of-swine.

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Human approach test in swine showed a heritability range of 0-0.3, the behaviors that allow swine to be approached by humans are important because human interaction is necessary or the well-being of the animal and ultimately allowing for economic gain from the sale of healthier swine. Heritability of aggression was 0.12, the more aggressive a pig is the more harm that it can do to the population as well as itself, reducing the quality of livestock within the population and the total economic gain that can be made.

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A negative relationship exists between aggression and weight and between aggression and average daily gain. Pigs that grew slower and were of lower weights were more aggressive and had an increased likelihood to attack other pigs. This article states that pigs with who grow slower (and are thus more aggressive) are not worth keeping in the population and should be culled to increased production efficiency and the well-being of other animals.
https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2008-1328

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The Milner Library proxy server will allow authorized individuals to use the indexes and databases when connecting through a computer off-campus.

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I choose swine because they have been a fascination of mine since taking AGR 170, because I learned a great amount about them. I learned about gestation crates, ear notching, farrowing, and the way that these animals are kept at farms. However, I did not feel that I learned as much about their behavior as I did about the industry that they are used in. I have not had any personal interactions with pigs and hope to do so at some point during my animal science degree studies. I have heard from students who took AGR 173 and interacted with piglets during their studies believe that piglets show similar behaviors to young dogs, i.e. scared/hesitant at first and then become more comfortable with human interaction.