Skip to content
Office of Animal Welfare

Environmental Enrichment for Swine

I. Introduction/Purpose

The goal of environmental enrichment for swine is to maximize activity while increasing species-specific positive behavior and enhancing the animals’ well-being. The components of environmental enrichment for swine include social housing, toys, and food treats.

II. Procedures

A. All pigs will be provided with environmental enrichment unless:

  1. The investigator provides scientific justification to the IACUC as to why enrichment is not compatible with the goals of the study and the IACUC approves the variance.
    OR​
  2. If, in the opinion of the Attending Veterinarian or designee, environmental enrichment will adversely affect the health or well-being of the animals.

A Husbandry Special Services Request form must be completed and turned in by the responsible party (Investigator group or Vet Services) to the facility supervisor if environmental enrichment is to be restricted or absent.

B. Social housing​

  1. Female littermates that arrive together are to be housed together.
  2. Immature males or castrated male littermates that arrive together are to be housed together.
  3. Females or immature/castrated males that arrive separately are to be introduced to social housing if they will be kept in the facility for longer than 2 weeks. Social introduction will be done in collaboration with veterinary services. This also applies to animals that arrive in the same shipment, but were not littermates.
  4. Mature boars are to be housed singly.
  5. Swine housed singly are to be housed so they can see and smell one another if swine of similar health status are present in the facility.
  6. Swine housed singly will provided with a food puzzle at least once weekly in addition to the regular enrichment outlined below.
  7. If only one pig of similar health status is present in a room, then the animal will be housed such that it can see in a mirror.

C. Toys

  1. All swine are to be provided with an assortment of approved toys, balls, rubber chew toys, a mirror, or toys with movable parts.
  2. Toys are to be checked daily for fecal contamination, removed if contaminated and replaced with a clean one.
  3. Toys must be rotated weekly for sanitizing and to prevent boredom.

​D. Food treats

  1. Food treats are to be provided a minimum of 3 times weekly.
  2. Food treats will consist of fruit, vegetables, or dog biscuits.

E. Music

  1. Music is provided to reduce the stress response the animals may exhibit to activity in the room or to hallway noises.
  2. Music is to be provided for a minimum of 4 hours daily during the lights on period.
  3. Music provided is to be instrumental compositions (e.g. Mozart, Bach, etc), nature sounds (nature sounds cannot include predator sounds from animals such as dogs, coyotes, wolves, etc.) or compilations from the Approved Environmental Enrichment Music by Species document, approved by the Attending Veterinarian.
  4. Music must always be played at a level below 85 decibels.

F. Rooting

  1. Rooting is natural behavior for swine and some means of rooting will be made available at least three times per week.
  2. Rooting devices include: straw on the bottom of swine enclosure, wood bedding on the bottom of swine enclosure, or a rooting box filled with straw, bedding, toys and/or ice cubes

G. Implementation of enrichment must be recorded on the Animal and Room Care Log and the Environmental Enrichment Log in the animal housing room.

H. New environmental enrichment items can be added with the approval of the Chair of the Environmental Enrichment Committee and the Attending Veterinarian.

III. References

  1. “The Effects of Music on Cognitive Performance: Insight from Neurobiological and Animal Studies”, Nikki S. Rickard, Samia R. Toukhasti and Simone E. Field, Behav Cogn Neurisci Rev 2005; 4;235
  2. USDA-Animal Health and Welfare-Behavioral Management of Animals-Elements of Behavioral Management
  3. The Guide for Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research and Testing, 3rd Ed., 2010. Federation of Animal Scientists. pp. 35-38.
  4. “Approved Environmental Enrichment Music by Species” document.

IV. Approval/Review Dates

SOP Created: 04/15/2003
Last Reviewed/Revised by the IACUC: 02/16/2023

Skip to toolbar