Environmental Enrichment and Agonistic Behavior in Post-Weaning Pigs: A Pilot Study Using Artificial Intelligence

Weaning is a major stressor for pigs, often increasing agonistic behaviors such as aggression, ear biting, and tail biting, which can impair growth and welfare. This study evaluated the combined effect of rubber sticks and Italian ryegrass hay as environmental enrichment (EE) on growth performance, agonistic behavior, ear and tail biting lesion development, fecal consistency, and blood biochemical parameters. A total of 64 pigs (8 pigs × 4 pens × 2 groups) at 7 weeks of age were assigned to control (without EE) and treatment (with EE) groups for four weeks. Pens were the experimental unit for growth, fecal scores, lesion scoring, and behavioral outcomes. Growth and fecal consistency were measured weekly, while ear and tail lesions were scored at the end. Agonistic behavior was quantified using overhead RGB cameras and a YOLOv8-based AI system with high accuracy, mAP50 = 0.953, validated against manual observations, with behavioral outputs aggregated at the pen level from a single representative pen per group. Combined EE reduced lesion severity, lowered free fatty acids, improved fecal consistency, and decreased agonistic behavior, without affecting growth. AI-based monitoring offers a promising tool for quantifying social stress, although further studies with greater pen-level replication are warranted.