Increasing the frequency of co-mingling piglets during the lactation period alters the development of social behavior before and after weaning

The purpose of this study was to determine how increasing the frequency of co-mingling affected piglets' behavior development before and after weaning. Co-mingling once (CM1), piglets interacted with 1 unfamiliar litter Days 10-18 after birth; co-mingling twice (CM2), piglets interacted with 1 unfamiliar litter Days 10-14; and with another, Days 14-18. Control (CM0) piglets did not interact with unfamiliar litters before Day 18 (n = 16 litters per treatment). The study weighed piglets and recorded ear-injury scores throughout the experiment; however, there were no treatment differences. The CM2 piglets spent less time engaged in aggressive interactions (p < .05) than did CM0 piglets following mixing at weaning. During the social challenge, CM2 piglets spent more time in proximity to one another, had shorter latencies to first aggressive interaction, and spent less time fighting than did CM0 piglets (p < .05). During the social recognition test, CM2 piglets recognized the stimulus piglet at a faster rate than did CM0 piglets (p < .05). Overall, CM2 resulted in changes to some social behaviors compared with CM0 but not with CM1.