@start-1@In order to research alleviation of social stress in farm animals, scientists investigate social aspects and management strategies that may play a role in defining the welfare levels of pigs and cattle. Four different aspects are addressed:
- Identify the variety of aggression genotypes in pigs, evaluate the social behaviour that goes along with this variety on commercial farms, and evaluate the behavioural phenotype of this variety in non-social situations.
- Compare how type and amounts of fibre in pigs’ diets affect social stress and production in pregnant sows in two different housing systems: an electronic feeding system and a Biofix or “trickle feed” system.@end-1@@start-2@-Evaluate the effects of social hierarchies and competition for feed on welfare of dairy and beef cattle. A completed study of dairy cows shows that social hierarchies do not affect stress or, if stress was present, the studied parameters were not useful indicators of it.
- Test whether housing systems for lactating sows and their pre-weaning piglets effect piglet play and, if so, whether different levels of play reduced later tendencies of the pigs to act aggressively against each other. This study shows that providing pigs with straw bedding and more space before weaning seems a feasible method to improve welfare, both during infancy and later in life. More@end-2@