Evaluation of Behavioral Aspects after Intradermal and Intramuscular Vaccine Application in Suckling Piglets

• Main Authors: Manuel Göller, Nicole Kemper, Michaela Fels
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-12-01
• Series: Agriculture
• Subjects: farrowing farms; health management; immune response; immunization; suckling piglets; behavior
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/10/12/637

The aim of this study was to analyse the behavioral aspects of suckling piglets after an intradermal vaccination method in comparison to an intramuscular vaccination applied on the seventh day of life. Possible effects on piglet welfare should be evaluated. Under field conditions, 135 suckling piglets from 12 litters were vaccinated against <i>Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae</i>—64 of those intradermally and 71 intramuscularly, from six litters each. For behavioral analyses, videos were recorded per pen, starting three days before the vaccination and ending three days after the vaccination. In the video analyses, the observation periods 6.00–10.00, 13.00–17.00, and 19.00–21.00 were analysed via scan sampling for the behaviors lying, standing, walking, suckling, and social contact. In the behavioral observations, in all piglets, the most frequent behavior was lying, followed by suckling at the sow’s teats. After vaccination, less lying behavior and more suckling behavior were assessed in intradermally vaccinated piglets compared to intramuscularly vaccinated piglets, which indicates that the piglets were not impaired by stress following vaccination. The results of this study showed that intradermal needle-free vaccination has clear advantages, as it caused fewer vaccination-associated behavior changes in suckling piglets than the intramuscular vaccination method with a needle.