Abstract The objective of this study was to characterise chronic stress in gestating sows (n = 66; parity 0–6) housed within the same facility, assigned to gestation stalls or group pens (25 sows per pen) within two days of breeding until day 111 (± 1.4) of gestation using hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) as a biological marker of longer-term stress. Hair was shaved from the right hip at day 6.0 (± 3.8), day 37, day 74, and day 111 of gestation; day 37 and day 111 samples were analysed for cortisol. Housing system, parity class (0–1 n = 23, 2–3 n = 17, and 4–6 n = 26), and their interactions were explored. Stall-housed parity 0–1 females had higher HCC than all other females regardless of housing system, suggesting that gilts and parity 1 females in stall housing may experience greater chronic stress during gestation.
Everding et al. (Thu,) studied this question.