Investigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)

Observations of play in animals have been suggested as a promising indicator of positive emotions and thus of positive animal welfare. However, if play can follow the proposed reward cycle concept where animals estimate and value reward differently in different phases of the cycle (anticipation, con...

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Autores principales:	Lena M. Lidfors, Negar Farhadi, Claes Anderson, Manja Zupan Šemrov
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	fattening pigs anticipation consumption relaxation locomotor play object play Veterinary medicine SF600-1100
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/77e3f243fe064244a8eb27fc8ec44cb0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:77e3f243fe064244a8eb27fc8ec44cb02021-11-18T09:10:14ZInvestigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)2673-622510.3389/fanim.2021.740778https://doaj.org/article/77e3f243fe064244a8eb27fc8ec44cb02021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2021.740778/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2673-6225Observations of play in animals have been suggested as a promising indicator of positive emotions and thus of positive animal welfare. However, if play can follow the proposed reward cycle concept where animals estimate and value reward differently in different phases of the cycle (anticipation, consummation and post-consummation) is unclear. To investigate if a reward cycle for play exists in growing pigs, we carried out an exploratory study where pigs were tested when they were naïve to a reward cycle test (first occasion) against when they were accustomed to going through the test after having the access to an open play arena with objects. Forty undocked pigs were housed in a weaner stable with two castrated males and two females per pen. Within each litter, we randomly selected and tested one male and one female test pig, each being tested as naïve or accustomed to the testing environment. The first week the pigs (n = 20) were tested four times and regarded as naïve during the first day. After that they were regarded as accustomed, and were tested twice a week for 3 weeks. We observed the behavior of the tested pairs in three subsequent stages: (1) in a holding pen 3 min, (2) in a play arena 15 min, and (3) in their home pen 10 min. When accustomed, pigs showed more locomotor play, social interactions and standing, and a tendency of more orientation toward the play arena and exploring bars facing the play arena (i.e., reward-seeking behavior) in the holding pen than when they were naïve, suggesting an anticipation to enter the play arena. Performing high numbers of object play in all sessions, and for accustomed pigs more exploration and social interaction, but less locomotor play and walking in the play arena may suggest consumption of play and exploration. Finding more lying and sitting in accustomed pigs, but less standing and walking in the home pen is in line with the previous hypothesis of the post-consummatory behaviors. Our study showed mixed results for the existence of a reward cycle for play in pigs and generated questions for future research.Lena M. LidforsNegar FarhadiClaes AndersonManja Zupan ŠemrovManja Zupan ŠemrovFrontiers Media S.A.articlefattening pigsanticipationconsumptionrelaxationlocomotor playobject playVeterinary medicineSF600-1100ENFrontiers in Animal Science, Vol 2 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	fattening pigs anticipation consumption relaxation locomotor play object play Veterinary medicine SF600-1100
spellingShingle	fattening pigs anticipation consumption relaxation locomotor play object play Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Lena M. Lidfors Negar Farhadi Claes Anderson Manja Zupan Šemrov Manja Zupan Šemrov Investigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)
description	Observations of play in animals have been suggested as a promising indicator of positive emotions and thus of positive animal welfare. However, if play can follow the proposed reward cycle concept where animals estimate and value reward differently in different phases of the cycle (anticipation, consummation and post-consummation) is unclear. To investigate if a reward cycle for play exists in growing pigs, we carried out an exploratory study where pigs were tested when they were naïve to a reward cycle test (first occasion) against when they were accustomed to going through the test after having the access to an open play arena with objects. Forty undocked pigs were housed in a weaner stable with two castrated males and two females per pen. Within each litter, we randomly selected and tested one male and one female test pig, each being tested as naïve or accustomed to the testing environment. The first week the pigs (n = 20) were tested four times and regarded as naïve during the first day. After that they were regarded as accustomed, and were tested twice a week for 3 weeks. We observed the behavior of the tested pairs in three subsequent stages: (1) in a holding pen 3 min, (2) in a play arena 15 min, and (3) in their home pen 10 min. When accustomed, pigs showed more locomotor play, social interactions and standing, and a tendency of more orientation toward the play arena and exploring bars facing the play arena (i.e., reward-seeking behavior) in the holding pen than when they were naïve, suggesting an anticipation to enter the play arena. Performing high numbers of object play in all sessions, and for accustomed pigs more exploration and social interaction, but less locomotor play and walking in the play arena may suggest consumption of play and exploration. Finding more lying and sitting in accustomed pigs, but less standing and walking in the home pen is in line with the previous hypothesis of the post-consummatory behaviors. Our study showed mixed results for the existence of a reward cycle for play in pigs and generated questions for future research.
format	article
author	Lena M. Lidfors Negar Farhadi Claes Anderson Manja Zupan Šemrov Manja Zupan Šemrov
author_facet	Lena M. Lidfors Negar Farhadi Claes Anderson Manja Zupan Šemrov Manja Zupan Šemrov
author_sort	Lena M. Lidfors
title	Investigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)
title_short	Investigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)
title_full	Investigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)
title_fullStr	Investigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)
title_full_unstemmed	Investigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)
title_sort	investigating the reward cycle of play in pigs (sus scrofa)
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/77e3f243fe064244a8eb27fc8ec44cb0
work_keys_str_mv	AT lenamlidfors investigatingtherewardcycleofplayinpigssusscrofa AT negarfarhadi investigatingtherewardcycleofplayinpigssusscrofa AT claesanderson investigatingtherewardcycleofplayinpigssusscrofa AT manjazupansemrov investigatingtherewardcycleofplayinpigssusscrofa AT manjazupansemrov investigatingtherewardcycleofplayinpigssusscrofa
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Investigating the Reward Cycle of Play in Pigs (Sus scrofa)

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