Acknowledgements Book of abstracts - Publicaties - Vlaanderen.be
Acknowledgements Book of abstracts - Publicaties - Vlaanderen.be
Acknowledgements Book of abstracts - Publicaties - Vlaanderen.be
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Laurianne Canario presents Oral paper 14<br />
In session 3: Improving animal welfare by adapting animals to their environment<br />
Thursday, 11 Septem<strong>be</strong>r 2008 from 17h15-17h30 in the Aula chaired by Marie Haskell<br />
42<br />
Oral paper 14<br />
GENETIC RELATIONS BETWEEN THE GROUP EFFECT FOR AVERAGE<br />
DAILY GAIN, AND POST-MIXING AGGRESSION AND SKIN LESIONS IN<br />
SWEDISH PIGS<br />
L. Canario 1 , R. Bergsma 2 , R.B. D'Eath 3 , A.B. Lawrence 3 , R. Roehe 3 , N. Lundeheim 1 , L.<br />
Rydhmer 1 , E. Knol 2 , S.P. Turner 3<br />
1 Swedish University <strong>of</strong> Agricultural Science, Dept <strong>of</strong> Animal Breeding, Genetics, Uppsala, Sweden<br />
2 Institute for Pig Genetics, P.O. Box 43,6640 AA Beuningen, The Netherlands<br />
3 Scottish Agricultural College, Bush Estate, Edinburgh, EH26 0PH, UK<br />
Intense aggression after mixing pigs is common and can affect performance and welfare. It also<br />
results in skin injuries which increase the risk <strong>of</strong> infection.<br />
Selective breeding on the group effect for average daily gain (ADG) (i.e. genetic potential <strong>of</strong> one<br />
individual to favour the growth <strong>of</strong> its pen-mates) could simultaneously increase the genetic progress<br />
in individual growth and limit aggressiveness, thus improving the welfare <strong>of</strong> pigs in social<br />
situations.<br />
The aim <strong>of</strong> the study was to evaluate the possible consequences for aggressive <strong>be</strong>haviour and skin<br />
lesions from this indirect selection on the genetic effect on ADG <strong>of</strong> pen-mates.<br />
Parameters for direct and group effects for ADG were estimated previously on Dutch pigs and used<br />
to obtain estimated breeding values (EBV) for ADG in the study population (96 groups <strong>of</strong> 15 pigs).<br />
Aggressive <strong>be</strong>haviour recorded continuously for 24h post-mixing included durations <strong>of</strong><br />
involvement in injurious and non-injurious fighting, and delivery and receipt <strong>of</strong> non-reciprocated<br />
bullying. Skin lesion counts 24h and 3 wks post-mixing were also available. For all traits, the<br />
statistical model included the fixed effects <strong>of</strong> sex, line, litter size at birth, mixing weight and the<br />
random effects <strong>of</strong> litter at birth, mixing group and pig for all traits, plus a group effect for the trait<br />
ADG. Genetic analyses were carried out with ASReml s<strong>of</strong>tware.<br />
Correlations <strong>be</strong>tween EBVs showed that pigs with a <strong>be</strong>neficial group effect for ADG initiated fewer<br />
(r=−0.23, p
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