A NOVEL HOUSING SYSTEM TO DECREASE INJURY AND DISTRESS DURING TRANSPORT IN SWINE

Our overall goal is to mitigate a key problem of international importance: the loss associated with stress, injury, and death during transport of market hogs. In addition to diminishing animal well-being, transport losses at marketing occur after hogs have consumed their maximum resources, making them especially harmful to profitability and sustainability.Pig stress is reduced by easier loading, and injury and death may also be reduced. Our preliminary data indicate that a simple adaptation, providing a ramp in nursery pig housing, substantially decreases the amount of time it takes to load market hogs up a ramp, while alsodecreasing nursery pig fighting and maintaining growth.The goals of the proposed study are to validate our preliminary findings in a commercial-type production system and to expand the measured outcomes. Supporting objectives include measuring the effects of ramped nursery housing on loading and unloading speed and ease at marketing, stress to pigs in the nursery and at marketing, and pig condition at the processing facility. We will achieve the study objectives by comparing the described outcomes between pigs housed in conventional flat nursery pens and pigs housed in nursery pens containing a simple ramp and platform.The proposed project targets Program Area Code A1251, "Welfare and Well-being of Agricultural Animals". It will fulfill the Program Area Priorities by promoting the development of a new management approach that safeguards both animal welfare and sustainable production efficiency, and by creating improvement in handling and transportation to decrease injury and distress.