The use of urinary @entity701 (UC) as an additional tool to evaluate sows welfare was assessed in two experiments. In a preliminary methodological experiment, the kinetics of @entity701 excretion in urine was studied during an Adreno Cortico Trophic Hormone (ACTH) challenge test in 10 pregnant sows. In a second experiment, 96 primiparous sows of an experimental unit were assigned to two different housing systems: 48 animals were housed in individual pens (IP) and 48 animals in @entity1358 ( @entity1358 ) with 6 animals per pen. UC was measured at the beginning and at the end of pregnancy and compared with other welfare indicators such as behaviour or skin damage. In both experiments, UC was measured using a high pressure liquid chromatography assay. In experiment 1, UC was constant on the day before injection of ACTH, with no variations related to circadian rhythm. It began to rise 2 h after the injection, peaked between 2 to 5 h after then returned to the basal concentration on the day after the injection. In experiment 2, UC concentrations were not different between @entity1358 - and IP-housed sows but they were higher in sows exhibiting the less stereotypies in comparison with sows exhibiting the most stereotypies. The results of this study suggest that UC is a good indicator of acute stress, more convenient than plasma @entity701 measurement since it is a non-invasive method avoiding restraint or catheterisation of sows. They also suggest that UC could also give additional information on the assessment of chronic stress and improve the evaluation of animal welfare if used in conjunction with other welfare indicators.

Urinary XXXX as an additional tool to assess the welfare of pregnant sows kept in two types of housing.

@entity1358 :: ('MESH:D002292', 'Disease') :: ['CP', 'collective pens'] @entity701 :: ('MESH:D006854', 'Chemical') :: ['cortisol']
@entity701 :: (MESH:D006854,Chemical) :: ['cortisol']
