The influence of the sanitary environment on the inflammatory status, sexual development and odour of entire male pigs (Anglais)

Effet de l’environnement sanitaire sur l’état inflammatoire, le développement sexuel et l’odeur des porcs mâles entiers

Séverine Parois (1) , Anaëlle Faouen (1) , Nathalie Le Floc'H (1) , Armelle Prunier (1)

1 PEGASE - Physiologie, Environnement et Génétique pour l'Animal et les Systèmes d'Elevage [Rennes]

Previous studies have shown that the sanitary environment can affect the health and growth of pigs. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of a weak chronic inflammation (induced by a degraded sanitary environment) on the sexual development of boars and on boar taint. Boars from a commercial cross line were allocated at 139 (±0.1) days of age (D0) and 81.3 (±0.6) kg of liveweight either to good (n = 61) or poor sanitary conditions (n = 54) for 4 weeks. The poor environment was previously soiled by non-contemporary pigs, poorly ventilated, not cleaned during treatment; the good environment benefited from reinforced hygiene measures. Inflammatory status and sexual maturity were evaluated on D0 and D27 by blood samples (blood formula, inflammatory proteins; testosterone, estradiol). Every week, boars were weighed, sampled for saliva (estrone, inflammatory protein CRP) and their rectal temperature was taken. Fat was collected on D27 by biopsy and at slaughter (116.7 ±0.4 kg live weight) to measure boar taint compounds (androstenone, skatole, indole). Pigs in the poor environment were dirtier (P < 0.001). The treatment had an effect on rectal temperature (D7: 38.4 ±0.04°C vs 38.6 ±0.06, P < 0.001; and D14: 38.3 ±0.04°C vs 38.6 ±0.04, P < 0.001), fat skatole (0.037 vs 0.082 μg/g of pure fat) and indole (0.039 vs 0.14 μg/g) with higher values for boars in the poor environment (P < 0.0001). Treatment induced differences in dirtiness, but had no impact on the inflammatory status, the sexual development and androstenone of the boars. However, we confirmed a strong effect of a soiled environment on fat skatole.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Séverine Parois, Anaëlle Faouen, Nathalie Le Floc'H, Armelle Prunier. Effet de l’environnement sanitaire sur l’état inflammatoire, le développement sexuel et l’odeur des porcs mâles entiers. 48. Journées de la Recherche Porcine, Feb 2016, Paris, France. IFIP - Institut du Porc, Journées de la Recherche Porcine en France, 2016, Journées de la Recherche Porcine en France. ⟨hal-01279750⟩