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Research centre for animal welfare

Pig enrichment

Research results on pig enrichment
The research project "New innovations for environmental enrichment on pig farms"

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A research project titled "New innovations for environmental enrichment on pig farms" was carried out at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine...

Why enrichment?

The welfare of pigs can be improved by giving them something to chew on and root at, also known as environmental enrichment. Some...

Economic profitability

In this project, the effect of enrichment on the economics of production was assessed in finishing pis and breeder pigs. In finishing pigs...

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Research on enrichment

A research project called "New innovations for environmental enrichment on pig farms" was carried out in Finland on three commercial pig...

Enrichments

Straw

Even though some enrichment objects function rather well, the fact remains that straw is one of the best enrichment materials for pigs. As...

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Fresh wood

Of the enrichment objects tested in the research project, the best turned out to be those made of fresh wood. The wood was...

Sisalköydet porsituskarsinassa

Sisal rope

In the research project, sisal rope was found to be a well-functioning enrichment material for suckling piglets. The chewing force of...

Plastic tube

Plastic tubes made of medium-density polyethene (PE-MD pipe, formerly also called PEM pipe) are commonly used as piping for...

Metal chain

Metal chain is quite commonly used as enrichment on pig farms, because it is durable and lasts for a long time. However, in this research...

Other materials

Several pig farms in Finland and elsewhere use newspapers as enrichment material. Pigs like it, especially if enough many pages are given...