Balls bath for bristle cattle: Toy improved housing conditions
Toys for pigs: Researchers at the University of Kassel develop a Wühltrogsystem that in intensive livestock farming provides pigs better employment opportunities and animal health is
The "Wühlkegel" to improve the animal welfare of the entertainment system and be ready for the market in two years. Finally, boredom is bad in the long run not only for humans. Even pigs gets in Maststall not good inaction. This results in aggressive behavior, jostling or even injuries, when it comes to biting between the animals. This annoys not only the swine, but has also frequently negative economic consequences for pig farmers. Because so stressed pigs should be treated with medication to wounds and separated from the group, they took less weight and longer would be fattened until the slaughterhouse acceptor-Animal T says Nicola Jathe. The research assistant and PhD student at the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel developed in Witzenhausen with ih-rem colleague Dr. Uwe Richter as part of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection doped with about 200.000 Euro joint project a Wühltrogsystem that in the welfare of pigs to improve intensive farming.
The voles drive belongs to the genetic behavioral program of domestic pigs. Because they come from the wild boar. This spends most of the time looking for food with its snout in the ground and exploring the surroundings, explains Jathe. So far, most farmers have tried to entertain their pigs with an 30 centimeter chain that was originally part of the feed transport system, says Dr. Judge. But the pigs quickly lose interest in this job opportunity. Attempts to keep the bristle cattle with children's balls in the Bay of Pigs happy were also unsuccessful. Covering the concrete slatted floor with straw is out of the question for labor and technical reasons.
The researchers have now developed a plastic ball made of polyurethane that is attached to a special spring. They borrowed the idea from the ballroom bathroom of a well-known Scandinavian furniture store chain, in which the children like to romp. An industrial partner of the scientists, the company Internorm Kunststofftechnik GmbH from Damme, in North Rhine-Westphalia, has already built some of these toys. They are currently being tested in various pig fattening companies.
The researchers' first results are promising. The pigs have been working on the balls that will later be screwed into the trough for three months, says Dr. Judge. The scientists monitor the behavior of the animals with video cameras. They are optimistic that the new trough system can go into series production by the end of the project, in the middle of 2013, especially since more stringent legal requirements will apply to the quality of the toys for pigs across Europe.
Source: Kassel [University]
