N. GeethaSHEHNAZ RAHMAN2023-03-302023-03-302022-03-26https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810195939Thesis Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Veterinary Science in Livestock Production ManagementThe effect of environmental enrichment on aggressive behaviour, skin injury, performance and microclimatic variation were studied in weaned Large White Yorkshire (LWY) piglet. Forty eight LWY weaned piglets of either sex were selected and divided into eight groups, each with six piglets. T1, T3, T5 and T7 piglets were weaned at 35 days old indicating control, area reduction, straw and balls enrichment treatments, respectively. T2, T4, T6 and T8 piglets were weaned at 45 days old representing control, area reduction, straw and balls enrichment treatments, respectively. It was found that the frequency and duration of all the aggressive behaviour viz. namely parallel pressing, inverse parallel pressing, head-to-head knock, biting and levering were found to be lowest in T5 and T6 (P<0.01), followed by T7 and T8 (P<0.01) respectively. However, the frequency and duration of the aggressive behaviour was found to be highest in T3 and T4 (P<0.01) respectively. The highest number of skin injury was found in T3 and T4 (P<0.01) respectively. Whereas, the skin injury lesions were lowest in T5 and T6 (P< 0.01) followed by T7 and T8 (P<0.01). The mean body weight of the T5 and T6 piglets (8.18 ± 0.21 and 10.00 ± 0.48) and T7 and T8 piglets (8.12 ± 0.09 and 9.90 ± 0.14) was higher than the piglets in T1 and T2 (7.30 ± 0.43 and9.59 ± 0.5) kg with significant difference between them (P<0.05) in case of the piglets weaned at 35 days and 45 days old respectively. However, piglets in T3 (7.18 ± 0.29) and T4 (8.87 ± 0.36) kg had significantly (P<0.05) lower mean body weight compared to all other treatments at the end of the study period. The overall mean temperatures, RH, wind speed and light intensity were 26.91 ± 1.19° C, 80.73 ± 3.84 per cent, 0.67 ± 0.14 m/s and 22.73 ± 2.65 (×10) lux, respectively. The aggressive behaviour was positively correlated with wind velocity, temperature and relative humidity whereas negatively correlated with light intensity. No post weaning mortality was seen in any of the treatment groups.EnglishThesis