A STUDY ON THE OCCURRENCE OF COPROPHAGY BEHAVIOR AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO B-VITAMIN STATUS IN GROWING-FINISHING PIGS

Abstract

Forty-eight 5-wk-old piglets were grouped into six blocks of eight pigs each. Each block comprised two pens of four pigs, two castrates and two females; one pen had solid floor (free access to feces) while the other had slatted floor (limited access to feces). Pigs were fed ad libitum, for 18 wk, a diet computed to meet NRC requirements. At 10, 16 and 22 wk of age, a comparative evaluation of feces intake on each floor type was carried out through utilization of a marker, chromium oxide, in the diet. At the same ages, the behavioral variables — rooting the floor, rooting the walls, rubbing and biting penmates — were recorded during a period of 24 h to evaluate their relationship with weight gain, serum concentrations of folates and vitamin B 12 . The results showed that there was no effect (P > 0.09) of floor type on ingestion of feces. However, this last variable changed with age, a limited ingestion of feces occurring at 10 wk of age while there was no apparent excrement intake at 16 or 22 wk. Some of the behavior variables permitting feces ingestion were related to weight gain or concentrations of vitamin B 12 but the R 2 values were small (<0.35). Therefore, it seems that pigs do not ingest significant amounts of feces and that the nutritional contribution of the coprophagy behaviors studied would not be important. Key words: Pigs, floor type, feces intake, behavior, vitamin B status