Objectives

In commercial pig production, access to rooting material such as straw improves pig welfare, as it increases the opportunities for pigs to perform important species-specific behaviour like foraging and exploration. Roughage provision, in addition to straw, can further increase the time pigs spend eating and foraging and therefore meets the need of pigs to explore and forage to a greater extent. Pigs in conventional pig production systems have limited access to rooting material and are often kept in barren environments, which may redirect their motivation for foraging and exploration behaviour towards pen fittings and other pigs in the pen, sometimes leading to injurious behaviour.

A study performed at the Swedish Livestock Research Centre investigated the effect of access to chicory and red clover silage, in combination with a restricted feeding regime (i. a. on performance and social behaviour) in finisher pigs.