Figure - available from: Frontiers in Veterinary Science
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Set-up of the pre- and post-weaning treatments. From d3 pre-weaning, piglets could access the feeding area that contained either two feeders with two feeding spaces containing creep feed (A), or two feeders with four feeding spaces, two containing creep feed and two containing larvae (B). Post-weaning, piglets either had access to an empty feeder (C), or access to a feeder to which two horizontally suspended tubes containing larvae were attached (D). A close-up of the tubes filled with larvae can be seen in (E).
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Weaning is a stressful event for piglets, involving substantial changes to their nutritional and social environment. Providing edible enrichment around weaning may ease the weaning transition by increasing pre-weaning feed intake and improving post-weaning performance, health, behavior, and affective state. In this study, we investigated the effect...
Citations
... The opposite can be observed in animals in a positive affective state, where they will show less bias towards the negative stimulus and respond more calmly than animals in a negative state. Attention bias tests have been used in humans 11 and animals, including sheep [12][13][14] , cattle 15 , poultry [16][17][18] , and pigs 9,19,20 . In one study, pigs biased their attention to a threat and were more vigilant than pigs that were tested in the same arena without a threat 9 . ...
... weeks of age, also using feed as a positive stimulus 9,20 . Yet no studies included piglets of pre-weaning age. ...
Surgical castration of male piglets is a routine procedure performed to improve meat quality. Pain due to castration can last for up to 4 days, negatively impacting animal welfare. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of surgical castration and practical pain alleviation methods during and after castration on piglets’ short and long-term affective states and activity. Piglets were surgically castrated (n = 22), castrated with analgesics (n = 21), or sham-handled (n = 22) at 3 days of age. Data on piglets’ activity, tails, and grimaces were collected for 1, 6, and 24 hours after castration treatments. An attention bias test was performed in week 1 (n = 31) and 12 (n = 33) to assess anxiety (an affective state), with feed (positive stimulus) and loud bangs and flashing lights (negative stimuli) presented simultaneously. Latency to eat, behavioral responses, and activity were recorded during the test. Castration treatment and sampling timepoint impacted activity levels hours after treatments. Piglets’ behavior and activity at week 1 suggest a negative impact of surgical castration on anxiety. Impacts of castration treatments observed in week 1 were no longer detected in week 12. Results confirm that surgical castration negatively impacts affective states of 1-week-old piglets, but results did not support a long-term impact detectable at 12 weeks of age. As this is the first study assessing the relationship between painful procedures and piglet affective state, more research is needed to better understand the impacts on these and other measures of pig affect.
... The species offers promising prospects in a new field, namely entomoremediation, being useful even in the recycling of plastics and other difficultly biodegradable materials, a sphere of great interest in waste management [17]. Larval biomass obtained by recycling these substrates can be a valuable source of protein, oil and biologically active compounds that can be used in the feeding of farm animals [18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Encouraging studies have shown that, in some fodders, it can replace fish or soy protein in proportions varying between 25-100%, depending on the species and age category [18,25], and fish oil up to 100% [26]. ...
The industrial rearing of Hermetia illucens offers sustainable solutions to the acute challenges of modern society associated with the accumulation of increasing amounts of organic waste, the substantial reduction of natural ocean fish stocks, and the imminent food crisis. Detailed knowledge of the reproductive particularities and reproductive behavior of the species is essential for increasing the efficiency of the breeding technology. This study aimed to identify the affinity shown by females regarding the size of the oviposition slots (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mm), the vertical distribution of the ovipositing rate, and the influence of the substrate’s moisture on ovipositing behavior (dry matter/water: 1:0.5; 1:1; 1:1.5; 1:2). Over 90% of females oviposited in the 1-, 2- and 3-mm slots, with most of the eggs (58.57%) being oviposited in the 1-mm slots. There was a positive correlation between the size of the oviposition slots and the average weight of the clutches (r = 0.985). The vertical distribution of ovipositing followed a fluctuating trend, with a tendency to oviposit closer to the attractive substrate. The females avoided ovipositing close to substrates with low humidity (1:0.5); indeed, only 6.8% oviposited under these conditions, the differences being significant compared to substrates with higher humidity (p < 0.001). The vast majority of females (43.2%) oviposited on substrates with an average humidity of 1:1 (p < 0.001). These results provide new insights into the ovipositing behavior of H. illucens, which allow for a differentiated harvest of large-sized clutches, providing practical applications with significant impact on the economic efficiency of the species’ industrial growth technology.
Including black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) in broiler diets has the potential to benefit broiler welfare and increase production performance, but the effects of dietary BSFL likely depend on the way BSFL are provided. In this study we aimed to discern the effects of different BSFL forms and provisioning methods by providing male broilers with no BSFL (CON), processed BSFL meal and oil incorporated in the feed pellets (INC-F), dried BSFL in the feeder on top of the feed (D-F), or dried or live BSFL scattered through the pen (D-S and L-S, respectively), and evaluating various indicators of broiler welfare and production performance. In all dietary BSFL treatments 8% of the total dietary dry matter content was replaced with BSFL. Dried and live larvae were provided in four equal daily portions at 08:00, 11:00, 14:00, and 17:00. Compared to a diet without BSFL, scattering dried or live larvae through the pen increased active behaviors, though only live larvae increased the time broilers spent standing. Broilers in the D-F, D-S and L-S treatments had higher average daily body weight gain during some periods, and they had higher final weights, despite L-S broilers having a lower total dry matter intake than CON broilers. Furthermore, the dry matter conversion ratio of INC-F, D-S and L-S broilers was reduced. At the end of the rearing period, pens in all dietary BSFL treatments had better litter quality than CON pens. Furthermore, food pad dermatitis was less severe for INC-F and D-S broilers than for CON broilers, and for L-S broilers than for broilers in all other treatments, and hock burn severity was less for L-S than for CON broilers. Broiler lameness, cleanliness, plasma natural antibody titers, and whole blood serotonin were not influenced by dietary BSFL treatment. Feather corticosterone concentrations were affected by treatment, though without any significant post-hoc differences. Our results indicate that BSFL meal and oil, and dried and live BSFL are all promising feed ingredients for broilers as they all benefit some aspects of broiler welfare and production performance. Scattering BSFL through the pen results in more welfare benefits than providing BSFL in the feeder, with live BSFL having the most beneficial effects on broiler welfare.
