Behavioral Observations of Undocked Pigs on Protein-Reduced Diets

Detailed focal observations of 95 pigs with undocked tails on an experimental farm. The data comprises six tables documenting object manipulation, pen-mate interactions, confrontations, mounting, straw rooting, and general activity over four 5-minute observation periods per pig. The dataset was collected by researchers at the University of Bern to study precursors to damaging behaviors and links to protein efficiency.

Use Cases

• Identify behavioral precursors to tail biting based on recorded oral and nasal manipulations of pen mates.
• Analyze the relationship between protein efficiency and specific activity levels or interaction patterns.
• Model the effect of dietary protein restriction on the frequency of object manipulation and straw rooting behaviors.
• Use the provided ethogram as a template for designing future animal behavior observation studies.

Strengths

• Includes observations of 95 individual pigs, providing a substantial sample for behavioral analysis.
• Data is structured across six detailed tables covering over 180 distinct behavioral variables, including reactions and outcomes.
• Observations were conducted under controlled, favorable housing conditions (undocked tails, fresh straw, ample space) to limit stress.

Limitations

• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

University of Bern (Author: Lea Roch), sourced via paperswithcode.

Collection Method

Direct focal observations in home pens for 5 minutes each on four different days, with subsequent recording of wounds and cleanliness.

Geography

Experimental farm (location unspecified).