Animals | |
The Effects of Using a Ramp and Elevator to Load and Unload Trailers on the Behavior and Physiology of Piglets | |
John McGlone1  | |
关键词: elevator; piglets; ramp; welfare; | |
DOI : 10.3390/ani4030535 | |
来源: mdpi | |
【 摘 要 】
Transport is a routine practice in the modern swine industry. Loading the pigs into trailers can be a novel and stressful experience for the animals. This study compared behaviors and physiological variables during and after loading using a ramp or elevator to determine which method is the least stressful to the pigs. Loading pigs by ramp appears to cause more stress than loading by elevator. Transport is an inevitable process in the modern U.S. swine industry. The loading process is a novel and potentially stressful experience. This study uses behavior, heart rate and leukocyte counts to compare stress one hour before, during and after loading via ramp or elevator. Piglets were held in a home pen (control (CON)), walked up and down an aisle (handled (HAN)), or walked to a truck and loaded via elevator (ELE) or ramp (RAM). Sitting, feeding and blood parameters did not show a significant treatment by time effect (
【 授权许可】
CC BY
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
【 预 览 】
Files | Size | Format | View |
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RO202003190021660ZK.pdf | 6969KB | download |