Perinatal flavor learning and adaptation to being weaned: All the pig needs is smell
Thursday, October 20, 2011 - 01:30
in Health & Medicine
Weaning can be a stressful time, but new research published in the Oct. 19 edition of the online journal PLoS ONE shows that the presence of familiar flavors in food, or even in the surrounding air, has positive effects on piglet growth, food uptake, and behavior upon weaning, suggesting reduced stress. In the study, pregnant sows were fed anise-flavored food for about two weeks before birth and three weeks after.