High-Fibre feeding in gestation - The Gestating and Lactating Sow - page 92

will effectively reduce stereotypies only if the energy and nutrient requirements are met,
which is an important consideration taking into account the lower NE in fibrous diets
(Ramonet et al. , 2000a).

The manner in which the fibrous diets are supplied also modulates their effect on oral/
stereotyped behaviours after the meal. For instance, sows receiving high-fibre diets
(50% NDF or 43% NDF vs. a control 20% NDF diet) in mash instead of pellets spent
significantly less time performing chain manipulation in the 20 min after the morning
meal (Bergeron et al. , 2002). When gilts were fed twice a day, they performed more
stereotypies before and after mealtime than when they were fed once daily, both with
a fibrous diet and a control diet. Beneficial effects of two daily meals compared to a
single meal were observed before the meal time in gilts fed a high-fibre diet, as shown
by reduced nervousness during the 5 min preceding the morning meal when compared
with control gilts (Robert et al. , 2002).

Individual factors, such as parity, also play a role on the effectiveness of dietary fibre
to reduce oral activities, with generally a larger impact in young sows compared with
multiparous sows (Meunier-Salaün et al. , 2001). This is likely due to the fact that
stereotyped behaviour become gradually more rigid and frequent over successive parities
(Dantzer, 1986).

In summary, the effectiveness of dietary fibres to reduce oral activities after the meal
should be higher when provided from the first parity (Paboeuf et al. , 2000) and depends
on the type of fibrous components incorporated. Though stronger effects were attributed
to bulkier fibre types, De Leeuw et al. (2008) also found effects of less bulky, but more
fermentable fibres on postprandial oral activities. It therefore remains inconclusive to
what extent the effect of bulkiness per se is important.

5.4.3 Physical activity (resting, explorative and social behaviour)

Numerous studies report a decrease in general restlessness over a 24-h period in sows fed
diets incorporating various fibre components (De Leeuw et al. , 2008; Meunier-Salaün et
al. , 2001; Van der Peet-Schwering et al. , 2003a). The behavioural responses are expressed
in terms of a lower standing time or a lower frequency of postural changes, the magnitude
of the effect depending on individual and dietary factors. For instance, the reduced
number of postural changes with a fibrous diet appeared more obvious in the preprandial
period (Paboeuf et al. , 2000), and a positive correlation was found between standing time
and mouth-based activities in gestating sows (Ramonet et al. , 1999). The effect of dietary
fibre on physical activity can also be modulated by parity, with reduced standing time
being more pronounced in second- than first-parity sows (Robert et al. , 1993). Moreover,
the effects of dietary fibre on physical activity may depend on the fibre components,
with stronger effects, for instance, when sows were fed diets based on oats hulls and oats
compared with ones based on wheat bran and corn (Robert et al. , 1993). De Leeuw et
al. (2004, 2008) highlighted the important role of fermentation on the effects of fibrous
diets on the physical activity for many hours after the meal in sows, whereas no firm
conclusions can be drawn on the effect of bulkiness per se on physical activity over the