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Parental Behaviour in Sows
Jinhyeon Yun1, Olli Peltoniemi2
1Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, South Korea. pilot9939@jnu.ac.kr.
Abstract:
Parental behaviour in sows begins with prepartum nest-building behaviour, which mainly consists of rooting, pawing, and foraging, to achieve a structure for farrowing and to nurse and protect the offspring. A hormonal background is linked to the onset and cessation of nest-building behaviour. The ambient farrowing environment that can adequately address the needs for nest-building behaviour thus plays an important role in good parental behaviour of the sows during and after farrowing. In addition to these environmental factors, here we also discuss other well-known intrinsic factors, such as heredity, parental experience, and litter size, affecting parental behaviour of the sows for successful farrowing and lactating performance.
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