Pigs from one farm were either moved three times at weekly intervals during the month before slaughter (movement, M) or not (no movement, NM). Forty pens of pigs (eight of boars and 12 of gilts in each of M and NM groups) were involved, giving a total of 720 pigs. Each movement consisted of allowing the pigs to leave their pen over a 2-min period, then moving the remainder out and taking all pigs outside the building, through a batch weigher and back to the pen. At 20 weeks of age, 14 days after last movement, 8 pigs per pen were transported 100 miles to an abattoir. This took place on two days, with M and NM pigs being evenly distributed between top and bottom decks (four pens per deck). Pigs from pens within treatment group were mixed on the lorry, but pigs from M and NM pens were not mixed. After the first movement, more pigs left the pen within 2 min during second movement (median 26 vs. 42%, P < 0.001). There were no significant improvements between second and third movements. The median time for 50% of pigs to leave the pen decreased from 79 to 39 s from first to second movements (P < 0.05). At loading, far fewer M pigs remained in their pens 1 min after opening the pen door than NM pigs (median 16 vs. 82%, P < 0.001). When the first movement of NM pigs at 20 weeks was compared with the first movement of M pigs at 16 weeks, more pigs were left in NM pens after 1 min (median of 82%) compared to M pens (median of 63%, P < 0.001). At unloading, there was no difference in the time taken (median s per pig) between M (2.0) and NM (2.6) pigs to unload. Overall, the results suggested that moving pigs in the month before slaughter had beneficial effects on their willingness to move and that the longer they were in a barren environment, the more reluctant they were to leave the pen, given the opportunity. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.
