By Bruce Cochrane.
Research being conducted by Michigan State University will help in the development of new tools to address aggression in group sow housing.
Pork producers in Canada and the United States are being encouraged to take part in a survey which is looking at how behavior is used to select pigs for group housing.
Dr. Sarah Ison, a post doctoral fellow in the Animal Science Department of MSU, says the goal is to create tools based on behavior, genomic and genetic factors to select pigs based on aggression.
Dr. Sarah Ison-Michigan State University:
We hope to gather information on the practices, opinions and knowledge on producers regarding the use of behavioral traits to breed and select replacement gilts.
We ask information about ease of handling of both breeding pigs and market hogs and also any tools used to minimize aggression, also to monitor any potential issues like disease outbreaks or tail biting and things like that.
Really the purpose is to help us to be able to see what direction to focus any future research but also to be able to provide any information we might think, by we I mean the researchers at MSU but also the extension team, to focus any educational materials for the future.
We hope to publish the results in scientific journals which is what we do as researchers.
We also hope to make summaries of the results to give to U.S. state pork producer associations and also the provincial pork associations in Canada to be able to pass this information onto their members.
We're also hoping to publish some results in any farming publications like the National Hog Farmer.
For more information on the survey or to participate visit msupigbehavior.questionpro.com.
Source: Farmscape