How social factors and behavioural strategies affect feeding and social interaction patterns in pigs
Authored by Gert Jan Hofstede, Iris J M M Boumans, Boer Imke J M de, Eddie A M Bokkers
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2018.04.032
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Platforms:
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Model Documentation:
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Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
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Abstract
Animals living in groups compete for food resources and face food
conflicts. These conflicts are affected by social factors (e.g.
competition level) and behavioural strategies (e.g. avoidance). This
study aimed to deepen our understanding of the complex interactions
between social factors and behavioural strategies affecting feeding and
social interaction patterns in animals. We focused on group-housed
growing pigs, Sus scrofa, which typically face conflicts around the
feeder, and of which patterns in various competitive environments (i.e.
pig:feeder ratio) have been documented soundly. An agent-based model was
developed to explore how interactions among social factors and
behavioural strategies can affect various feeding and social interaction
patterns differently under competitive situations. Model results show
that pig and diet characteristics interact with group size and affect
daily feeding patterns (e.g. feed intake and feeding time) and conflicts
around the feeder. The level of competition can cause a turning point in
feeding and social interaction patterns. Beyond a certain point of
competition, meal-based (e.g. meal frequency) and social interaction
patterns (e.g. displacements) are determined mainly by behavioural
strategies. The average daily feeding time can be used to predict the
group size at which this turning point occurs. Under the model's
assumptions, social facilitation was relatively unimportant in the
causation of behavioural patterns in pigs. To validate our model,
simulated patterns were compared with empirical patterns in
conventionally housed pigs. Similarities between empirical and model
patterns support the model results. Our model can be used as a tool in
further research for studying the effects of social factors and group
dynamics on individual variation in feeding and social interaction
patterns in pigs, as well as in other animal species.
Tags
Competition
Dynamics
Group dynamics
Aggression
Organization
Food-intake
Group-size
Injuries
Growing pigs
Animal welfare
Social facilitation
Feed
intake
Growth-performance
Applied ethology
Feeder type