Welfare of recently weaned piglets transported on unpaved roads: the effect of age and the use of straw bedding

This study evaluated the physiological responses of piglets weaned at three different ages and transported immediately over unpaved roads with and without the use of straw bedding in the transport vehicle. The study included 270 hybrid piglets born of York-Landrace dams and Pietrain sires. The piglets were weaned and then transported at 8 days old (n = 90), 15 days old (n = 90) or 22 days old (n = 90). The duration of each trip, from the time the transport vehicle left theoriginalsiteuntilitsarrivalatthedestination(site2)onthesamefarm,was1h.Thepigletsineachoneofthethreegroups weredividedintotwosubgroups:(1)transportedoverunpavedroadswithstrawbedding;(2)transportedoverunpavedroads withoutstrawbedding.Threerepetitionswereperformedforeachexperimentalcondition.Toassessphysiologicalresponses to the stress caused by transport, blood samples were taken as soon as the piglets arrived at site 2. The blood variables evaluated were: pH, haematocrit (%), glucose (mg/dL), electrolytes (Na + ,K + and Ca 2+ ) (mmol/L), lactate levels (mg/dL), partial pressures of carbon dioxide (pCO2) and oxygen (pO2) (mm Hg), bicarbonate (HCO3 - ), and total carbon dioxide (TCO2C).Pigletsthatwereweanedat8and15daysofageandthentransportedwithoutstrawbeddingwerefoundtobemore susceptibletometabolic,acid-base,hydric,andgasexchangeimbalances(P <0.05).BloodconcentrationsofpO2,Na + ,K + , Ca 2+ and pH were not affected by transport in piglets weaned at 22 days of age in vehicles using straw bedding. Hence, we conclude that regardless of age and trip conditions, the transport of recently weaned piglets constitutes a stressful situation, because just 1 h of transport time was sufficient to cause imbalances in their physiological blood indicators.