Approachability to a Human in Gilts Divergently Selected for Feed Efficiency

Abstract

<p>The objective of this study was to evaluate approachability of gilts divergently selected for residual feed intake (RFI) to a novel human. Twenty low-RFI and 19 high-RFI gilts were tested using a human approach test. Testing occurred over two consecutive weeks between 1300 and 1900 hours. Gilts were tested individually within a 4.9 x 2.4 m test arena. Throughout the test, latency to first enter, duration of time spent, and frequency of entrances within 1 m and 0.5 m of the human were recorded. These results suggest that divergent selection for RFI did not alter gilt approach behavior to a novel human.</p>