INDIVIDUAL VARIATION AND CONSISTENCY IN PIGLET BEHAVIOR

In order to investigate consistency in individual variations in piglet behaviour, the undisturbed behaviour of 42 piglets from 13 litters was recorded in their home pens at three different times: (1) during 60 min post-partum; (2) during 16 min following three sucklings when the piglets were 16-24 h old; (3) the same as (2), when the piglets were 3 weeks old. In addition, the same piglets were exposed to a 30 min open-field test in a separate test arena at the age of 3 weeks. Twenty-seven of the same piglets were subjected to three identical social challenge tests at the age of 5 weeks. Twelve other female piglets from three litters were exposed to three identical open-field tests. There was no measurable consistency in the undisturbed behaviour of the piglets between different ages, and no correlation between the undisturbed behaviour and the reactions in the open-field test or the social challenge test. Some behaviour was consistent between different open-field tests. In conclusion, our data do not indicate the existence of consistent individual behavioural strategies in pigs similar to the coping strategies of mice and rats.