Indirect Genetic Effects for Growth in Pigs Affect Behaviour and Weight Around Weaning.

Selection for indirect genetic effects (IGE), i.e. the genetic effect of an individual on a trait of another individual, is a promising avenue to increase trait values in plant and animal breeding.

Prenatal, but not early postnatal, exposure to a Western diet improves spatial memory of pigs later in life and is paired with changes in maternal prepartum blood lipid levels.

Maternal obesity and perinatal high-fat diets are known to affect cognitive development. We examined the effects of late prenatal and/or early postnatal exposure to a Western-type diet, high in both fat and refined sugar, on the cognition of pigs (Sus scrofa) in the absence of obesity. Thirty-six sows and their offspring were assigned to 1 of 4 treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement, with 8 wk prenatal and 8 wk postnatal exposure to a Western diet (enriched in fat, sucrose, and cholesterol) or control diets as factors.

Working and reference memory of pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) in a holeboard spatial discrimination task: the influence of environmental enrichment.

Interest in cognitive research in pigs is increasing, but little is known about the impact of environmental conditions on pigs' cognitive capabilities. The present study investigated the effect of environmental enrichment on cognitive performance of pigs in a holeboard spatial task, in which they had to discriminate four baited buckets out of 16. Pigs (n = 32) were either housed in stimulus-poor, barren pens, or in larger pens enriched with rooting substrates.