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Integration of ethological and functional traits in breeding programs for tomorrow's sow (FreeSow)
Project
Project code: 2815NA022
Contract period: 01.06.2016
- 31.05.2019
Purpose of research: Applied research
While free (meaning without fixation) husbandry systems have already been established for lactating sows in organic husbandry systems, now a shift is taking place on a broader basis, too. It is expected that a permanent fixation of the sow in the farrowing unit will not be permitted any longer in future. However, the realization of free husbandry systems is a challenge both to the farmer and the animal. To achieve optimal animal health and welfare along with good performance in such a system, the sow has to possess properties that are not considered in breeding programs yet. The aims of this project are the characterization of these functional traits and a possible integration into breeding programs as a contribution to sustainable animal breeding. Traits form the areas of animal behavior, animal health and physical welfare are characterized and, ideally, integrated into breeding programs. Practical data acquisition is performed with pure-bred landrace sows, kept in free farrowing pens. Over two years, repeated observations of single sows take place and an adequate animal number for genetic analyses is reached. The behavior of sows is analyzed, and animal health and welfare data is assessed. Animals are genotyped and possible correlations of the assessed parameters are examined statistically. Calculation of breeding strategies and the integration of the characterized traits in breeding programs follow. To achieve transferable results under organic conditions, validation studies on an organic farm are conducted. Over the whole project period, attendant knowledge transfer into practice takes place.
The aim of the “FreeSow” project was to characterize sows for their suitability for free farrowing systems, and to integrate these traits into future breeding programmes. In this way an important contribution to sustainable livestock breeding was given. Because free farrowing systems pose particular challenges, a suitable sow is expected to have both good maternal characteristics and a high tolerance when interacting with humans. Therefore, the project developed and applied various behavioral tests to describe the behavior of the sows. Data collection took place over two years on the basic breeding farm Garlitz (BHZP) with 80 movement pens for detailed examinations. For validation under organic conditions, the sow herd of LBZ-Echem (LWK) was available. Extensive data collection and analysis on animal health and well-being was another focus. All behavioral tests for tolerance to human interactions developed within the project proved to be suitable for characterising the behaviour of sows in practice. The estimated heritabilities for the tested traits, characterising the behavior of the sows towards humans, ranged from h² = 0.131 to h² = 1.87. These degrees of heritability allow for successful breeding. In addition, initial evidence for promising SNPs was found in genome-wide association studies. New traits of animal behavior have been developed and integrated into a sow planner. In this way, a simple documentation option has been created for the sow farmer. Already during the project period, the selection against unwanted behaviors of sows in farrowing systems with greater mobility was implemented.
Section overview
Subjects
- Animal breeding
Framework programme
Federal Organic Farming Scheme and other forms of sustainable agriculture (BÖLN)
Funding programme
Excutive institution
Institute for Animal Health, Animal Welfare and Behaviour of Farm Animals (ITTN)
