Behavioural reactivity, social and cognitive abilities of Vietnamese and Pitman–Moore weaned piglets

Miniature pigs are increasingly used as alternative models in biomedical research, but little is known about their behavioural reactivity. However this should be taken into account when selecting breeds. In the present study, behavioural reactivity, social and cognitive abilities of 63 weaned piglet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied animal behaviour science 2013-09, Vol.148 (1-2), p.108-119
Main Authors: Val-Laillet, David, Tallet, Céline, Guérin, Carole, Meunier-Salaün, Marie-Christine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behaviour
biomedical research
females
humans
Life Sciences
locomotion
males
miniature breeds
miniature swine
Minipig
piglets
principal component analysis
Reactivity
roots
Selection
Sociability
temperament
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Summary:Miniature pigs are increasingly used as alternative models in biomedical research, but little is known about their behavioural reactivity. However this should be taken into account when selecting breeds. In the present study, behavioural reactivity, social and cognitive abilities of 63 weaned piglets from the Pitman–Moore (16 females and 17 males) and Vietnamese (15 females and 15 males) miniature breeds were assessed in three test situations. They were first isolated in an open-field test and confronted with an unknown human. They were then confronted to the presence of familiar and unfamiliar piglets in a T-maze test. Finally, their reaction to the reunion with and separation from a littermate was assessed in a Y-maze test. Overall, Pitman–Moore piglets systematically expressed more locomotion, vocalisations and exploratory behaviour than Vietnamese piglets (principal component analysis; P
ISSN:0168-1591
1872-9045
DOI:10.1016/j.applanim.2013.06.003