Samenvatting

In the Netherlands, about 1.2 million breeding sows are kept for about 3.5 years (eight to nine pregnancy cycles) on average in farming practice. These sows may be exposed to several stressors. With the increasing interest in pig welfare, it is important to investigate these stressors so adjustments in pig farming can be made and pig welfare can be improved.In this study, the effect of the transition from group housing to the farrowing crates on salivary cortisol is studied and the hypothesis that younger sows with a lower parity would experience this event as more stressful is tested.