Characterisation of Spontaneous Behaviour in Göttingen Minipigs in the Home Pen

Abstract

Spontaneous behaviour in the home pen of group-housed minipigs was characterised with respect to social  interaction, activity, locomotion, exploration and resting behaviour. 

Sixteen adult male and female Göttingen minipigs were allocated in three groups. Data were acquired at  the age of seven and 16 months. Behaviour sampling was made by video recordings for two consecutive  days per group. 

The median values for initiating and receiving social contact were one to four times per individual during  30 min of observation in the main “activity period” (found to be 4 – 4.30 pm with the feeding regime) at  both ages; the variation between pigs was considerable. The animals spend a large amount of their active  time (during this time) exploring (76 %). During the six-hours resting period, three bouts of activity were  conspicuous in all three groups, and the highest level of activity was around midnight. The level of social  interaction at seven and 16 months of age did not differ significantly, and the social hierarchy of the pigs  in the three groups showed a high degree of consistency at seven and 16 months. However, correlation  analysis did not indicate a statistically significant relationship between the level of social interaction of the  individual pig at the young age and the older age. 

As relatively little is known about spontaneous behaviour of Göttingen minipigs this basal characterisation  of normal behaviour may serve as normative data for future studies of Göttingen minipig behaviour.