Flank or belly nosing in weaned pigs

Results: Nosing activity was not observed until 3 days postweaning and peaked in number of pigs involved and duration of activity about 1 week after weaning. Nearly half of all pigs were observed performing some flankor belly-nosing activity. Pigs that nosed were more likely to become the smallest pigs, although initial weight did not differ between pigs that nosed and those that didn’t. In this study, sexes were housed separately, and no difference between gilts and barrows was detected in amount of nosing activity, measured either by number of days observed nosing or total seconds observed nosing. However, barrows had more skin lesions caused by nosing than did gilts. Implications: Although flank or belly nosing is esthetically annoying to animal caretakers, it did not slow the growth rate of recipients. However, there was confounding of effect, since the most rapidly growing pigs were the most attractive targets for the perpetrators. While being a recipient of belly nosing did not affect growth, being a perpetrator was strongly associated with a reduction in growth rate.