Lay is an animal behaviorist at the ARS (Agricultural Research Service). His research is part of the ARS's national plan project "Animal Welfare and Stress Control System". This project began in 1994. The purpose of the project is to solve some problems from the perspective of behavior, such as the death of piglets.
Observations and studies have shown that the majority of incidents of crushed piglets occur on the first day after birth. Lay also observed that some sows had 11 hours and a half quietly after 12 hours of postpartum, and they continued to lie down. This will basically ensure that piglets can safely spend half of the most dangerous days. So Lay couldn't understand why other sows were so quiet and overly active in the first 12 hours, threatening the safety of piglets?
Lay found that the sow's hindquarters and leg steps were damaged and he thought that the sows were uncomfortable lying on the floor. He used analgesics for such sows, and they calmly lie down and rest.
Lay believes that if the floor is designed to be more comfortable, this problem will be improved. He plans to experiment with a variety of possible solutions, compare it with industry data, and adjust according to the actual production. For example, the design of the new floor should take into account the pig's foraging behavior - anything that would allow them to reach under the nose would be destroyed by them.
Sows squeezing piglets is a big issue. There are too many questions in this area and the answer is very few.
Lay focused on the question of why the sows did not seem to hear the piercing screams of their own piglets and continued to press on them. Is it because they often hear screams from other fields? Or is it genetically determined that the sow is insensitive?
There may be two reasons. Lay observed that some sows are sensitive to the screams of their own piglets and other piglets.
Observational studies have shown that part of the reason for this problem is the modern production method of keeping sows and piglets in a nest and intensively housed indoors. On the one hand, because the animal prefers a safe and secluded environment during childbirth, on the other hand, because the screaming of neighboring litter piglets can make sows insensitive to the screaming of their piglets.
Lay observed a phenomenon: Although the piglets were both myopic and awkward at birth, they could find the mother's nipple within a few minutes after birth. Julie Morrow-Tesch did experiments to put the piglets in the labyrinth and let them look for the nipples. The results showed that the piglets were looking for the nipple by the smell of breast milk.
Lay thinks of ways to divert piglets away from their sows - keep them out of danger. He found that the piglets were blind to the heating lights during the most dangerous 24 hours after birth, and still preferred sow's body temperature and milk.
So Lay designed a kind of artificial breast, covered with cloth, stained with the sow's breast odor. This kind of artificial breast successfully attracted piglets. However, large-scale trials are also needed to see if this can reduce the proportion of piglets crushed to death by sows.
Living area design is a very important factor. Compared with the big bar, the proportion of crushed piglets in the production box is relatively low. The production box is designed to limit the range of movement of the sow during the weaning process so that it can only lie downright and cannot fall over the piglet. In Europe, there are fences with a height of 0.3 meters in some boxes. Sows can move freely across the fence. Piglets only need to grow for one or two weeks before they can climb over the fence.
Research by Jeffrey Carroll on cold stress shows that if the piglet's ambient temperature is below the optimal 29.5°C, the piglets are more susceptible to respiratory diseases, as well as other diseases.
Lay found that cold stress not only increases the risk of piglet disease, but also increases the risk of piglets being crushed by sows. Because more time, cold piglets will gather around their mothers to keep warm. And in this situation the piglet will be weaker and it will be more difficult to quickly escape the hazard.
Zombies in each litter are more likely to be suffocated because they are smaller, weaker, and more prone to cold stress.
Lay announced his findings at the annual meeting of the American Animal Husbandry Association and the American Dairy Science Association in Des Moines, Iowa in 2001.
Observations and studies have shown that the majority of incidents of crushed piglets occur on the first day after birth. Lay also observed that some sows had 11 hours and a half quietly after 12 hours of postpartum, and they continued to lie down. This will basically ensure that piglets can safely spend half of the most dangerous days. So Lay couldn't understand why other sows were so quiet and overly active in the first 12 hours, threatening the safety of piglets?
Lay found that the sow's hindquarters and leg steps were damaged and he thought that the sows were uncomfortable lying on the floor. He used analgesics for such sows, and they calmly lie down and rest.
Lay believes that if the floor is designed to be more comfortable, this problem will be improved. He plans to experiment with a variety of possible solutions, compare it with industry data, and adjust according to the actual production. For example, the design of the new floor should take into account the pig's foraging behavior - anything that would allow them to reach under the nose would be destroyed by them.
Sows squeezing piglets is a big issue. There are too many questions in this area and the answer is very few.
Lay focused on the question of why the sows did not seem to hear the piercing screams of their own piglets and continued to press on them. Is it because they often hear screams from other fields? Or is it genetically determined that the sow is insensitive?
There may be two reasons. Lay observed that some sows are sensitive to the screams of their own piglets and other piglets.
Observational studies have shown that part of the reason for this problem is the modern production method of keeping sows and piglets in a nest and intensively housed indoors. On the one hand, because the animal prefers a safe and secluded environment during childbirth, on the other hand, because the screaming of neighboring litter piglets can make sows insensitive to the screaming of their piglets.
Lay observed a phenomenon: Although the piglets were both myopic and awkward at birth, they could find the mother's nipple within a few minutes after birth. Julie Morrow-Tesch did experiments to put the piglets in the labyrinth and let them look for the nipples. The results showed that the piglets were looking for the nipple by the smell of breast milk.
Lay thinks of ways to divert piglets away from their sows - keep them out of danger. He found that the piglets were blind to the heating lights during the most dangerous 24 hours after birth, and still preferred sow's body temperature and milk.
So Lay designed a kind of artificial breast, covered with cloth, stained with the sow's breast odor. This kind of artificial breast successfully attracted piglets. However, large-scale trials are also needed to see if this can reduce the proportion of piglets crushed to death by sows.
Living area design is a very important factor. Compared with the big bar, the proportion of crushed piglets in the production box is relatively low. The production box is designed to limit the range of movement of the sow during the weaning process so that it can only lie downright and cannot fall over the piglet. In Europe, there are fences with a height of 0.3 meters in some boxes. Sows can move freely across the fence. Piglets only need to grow for one or two weeks before they can climb over the fence.
Research by Jeffrey Carroll on cold stress shows that if the piglet's ambient temperature is below the optimal 29.5°C, the piglets are more susceptible to respiratory diseases, as well as other diseases.
Lay found that cold stress not only increases the risk of piglet disease, but also increases the risk of piglets being crushed by sows. Because more time, cold piglets will gather around their mothers to keep warm. And in this situation the piglet will be weaker and it will be more difficult to quickly escape the hazard.
Zombies in each litter are more likely to be suffocated because they are smaller, weaker, and more prone to cold stress.
Lay announced his findings at the annual meeting of the American Animal Husbandry Association and the American Dairy Science Association in Des Moines, Iowa in 2001.
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