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Research
4.
Behavioural responses in pigs administered with
ascorbic acid and transported by road for eight
hours during the harmattan season -
Yahaya Adeshina Adenkola
Vet World. 2011; 4(8): 353-357
doi: 10.5455/vetworld.2011.353-357
Abstract
Experiments were carried out with the aim of
investigating the modulatory role of ascorbic acid
(AA) on responses to 8-h road transportation,
covering a distance of 260 km at a speed of 40 -
50 km/h, during the harmattan season. Twenty-nine
adult local pigs aged 9 - 12 months served as
subjects. Seventeen pigs administered with AA,
prior to the transportation, at the dose of 250
mg/kg orally and individually served as
experimental animals, and 12 others administered
orally with sterile water were used as control
animals. The behavioural activities of pigs which
included resting (that is, either lying down or
standing idle), defaecating, urinating, sniffing,
threats of attack (fight), attempts to escape,
mounting on one another, hurdling together and
routing the floor were monitored with the aid of a
video camera without the pigs knowing that they
were being observed. Recordings were done based on
the number of pigs found performing each activity
within 30 min of direct observation, alternated by
30 min of rest and this continued for a period of
4 h. The tape was later watched, analysed and the
number of pigs exhibiting each behavioural
activity was recorded. Post-transportation, the
behavioural activities of standing (94.1 ± 5.8 %),
aggressiveness indicated by the percentage of pigs
involved in fighting (23.5 ± 6.00 %) and attempts
to escape (66.67 ± 14.21 %) were higher in
experimental pigs (P < 0.05) post-transportation
than control pigs with the corresponding values of
25.00 ± 3.00 %; 0.00 % and 35.29 ± 11.95 %,
respectively. The results showed that road
transportation induced considerable behavioural
stress resulting in depression of the central
nervous system. AA administration
pre-transportation reduced the manifestation of
stressful behavioural activities in experimental
pigs following road transportation. In conclusion,
long-term road transportation of pigs during the
harmattan season induces behavioural stress,
alleviated by AA administration.
Keywords:
Ascorbic acid, Behavioural responses, Harmattan
season, Pigs, Road transportation.
