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Using the Piglet Scream Test to enhance piglet survival on farms: data from outdoor sows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

S Held ,
G Mason  and
M Mendl
S Held*
Affiliation:
Centre for Behavioural Biology, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, BS40 5DU, UK
G Mason
Affiliation:
Department of Animal & Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
M Mendl
Affiliation:
Centre for Behavioural Biology, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, BS40 5DU, UK
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: suzanne.held@bris.ac.uk
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Abstract

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The point of the Piglet Scream Test is to identify those sows that increase the survival of their piglets through good maternal behaviour. For this to work, sows must be shown to differ in their test responsiveness, for differences to be consistent across parities and for responsiveness to be associated with piglet survival. Our data provide some first evidence that outdoor sows, kept under commercial production conditions, differ consistently from each other in their test responsiveness across parities. However, there was no evidence that this was associated with the survival of their litters. This, together with the lack of consistent evidence from other studies for a relationship between Piglet Scream Test responsiveness and piglet survival and concerns about its possible causes, cautions against the use of the test to enhance piglet survival on farms without further study. The paper highlights lack of standardisation of the test and pseudoreplication as concerns.

Keywords

animal welfarematernal behaviouroutdoor sowspiglet mortalityPiglet Scream TestPlayback Test
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 16 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level , May 2007 , pp. 267 - 271
Copyright
© 2007 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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