Research Note: Differences in the pecking behavior of turkey hens in proximity to the feeding pan depending on their beak condition.

The present study aimed to provide further insight on different pecking behavior of beak-trimmed and untrimmed turkey hens in proximity to the feeding pan. Investigations were carried out in 4 housing compartments with female fattening turkeys where video were recorded and evaluated with regard to 4 different types of (pecking-) behavior (feeding, pecking on the ground, pecking at conspecifics, being pecked) observed in 1 focal animal in proximity to each feeding pan. Concerning the median duration, there were only small differences between the animals with different beak conditions. Pecking behavior varied in how many animals exhibited 'pecking on the ground' with more turkeys with intact beaks showing this activity in proximity to the feeding pan with a slightly increased median duration (0:06 vs. 0:04 min). Further discrepancies were observed in the maximum duration of recorded behaviors, as there were animals with intact beaks that showed "pecking on the ground" (4:09 vs. 2:54 min), "pecking at conspecifics" (3:46 vs. 1:25 min), and were "being pecked" (0:52 vs. 0:35 min) for a longer period of time. Based on this result, however, it can be assumed that especially individual animals with an intact beak forage more intensively and perform some pecking behaviors, which include injurious pecking, with longer duration in proximity to the feeding pan.

Heat Stress Trends in Regions of Intensive Turkey Production in Germany-A Challenge in Times of Climate Change.

This study analyzed trends of enthalpy and the temperature-humidity index (THI) over a period of 50 years in outer air, which lead to severe heat stress in turkeys. Weather station data from 15 German districts with high densities of turkey production were used to investigate the heat input into the barns. Therefore, the parameters of enthalpy and THI with specified thresholds were used for heat stress assessment. Trends in extreme weather situations where these thresholds were exceeded were analyzed and tested for significance using the Mann-Kendall test. In all districts, the heat load increased between 1973 and 2022 for both parameters. Statistically significant heat stress trends were found in 9 of the 15 districts for enthalpy and 14 out of 15 districts for THI. Thus, the established THI thresholds seem to be more sensitive for the detection of heat stress than the chosen enthalpy values. As heat stress is an important issue and a rising concern in times of climate change, farmers and constructors of farm animal facilities should take this into account in future sustainable work.

Occurrence of claw asymmetries in fattening pigs and potential impact on the development of sole ulcerations.

BACKGROUND: Claw abnormalities, particularly claw asymmetries, are associated with lameness in pigs and can be a welfare issue. However, the prevalence and development of claw asymmetries in pigs of different age is unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the claw symmetry over the pig lifetime from birth to slaughter as well as the occurrence of sole ulcerations in fattening pigs possibly caused by such asymmetric claws. RESULTS: From third day of life until slaughtering, asymmetric growth of the claws was detected more frequently and more severely with increasing age as determined by three-step scoring. Sole ulcerations were detected in slaughtered pigs only with a prevalence of 64.2% (197/307 examined animals). The risk for a sole ulceration was 3.6-fold higher for pigs with strongly asymmetric claws (≥ 30% size difference of the claw footing area) compared to slightly asymmetric claws (≥ 5-15% size difference of the claw footing area) (odds ratio (OR) = 3.6). It was even higher for pigs showing intermediately asymmetric claws (≥ 15-30% size difference of the claw footing area) (OR = 2.7). CONCLUSIONS: The study showed a significant increase in the prevalence of claw asymmetries over the pigs' lifetime, which can lead to serious pathologic findings with increasing age such as sole ulcerations. Most likely, the unbalanced weight load on single claws in combination with hard flooring can result in claw damages. Moreover, a genetic component cannot be excluded because claw asymmetries were already detected in suckling piglets.

Keypoint Detection for Injury Identification during Turkey Husbandry Using Neural Networks.

Injurious pecking against conspecifics is a serious problem in turkey husbandry. Bloody injuries act as a trigger mechanism to induce further pecking, and timely detection and intervention can prevent massive animal welfare impairments and costly losses. Thus, the overarching aim is to develop a camera-based system to monitor the flock and detect injuries using neural networks. In a preliminary study, images of turkeys were annotated by labelling potential injuries. These were used to train a network for injury detection. Here, we applied a keypoint detection model to provide more information on animal position and indicate injury location. Therefore, seven turkey keypoints were defined, and 244 images (showing 7660 birds) were manually annotated. Two state-of-the-art approaches for pose estimation were adjusted, and their results were compared. Subsequently, a better keypoint detection model (HRNet-W48) was combined with the segmentation model for injury detection. For example, individual injuries were classified using "near tail" or "near head" labels. Summarizing, the keypoint detection showed good results and could clearly differentiate between individual animals even in crowded situations.

Footpad Monitoring: Reliability of an Automated System to Assess Footpad Dermatitis in Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) During Slaughter.

Footpad dermatitis (FPD) is an indicator of animal welfare in turkeys, giving evidence of the animals' physical integrity and providing information on husbandry management. Automated systems for assessing FPD at slaughter can present a useful tool for objective data collection. However, using automated systems requires that they reliably assess the incidence. In this study, the feet of turkeys were scored for FPD by both an automated camera system and a human observer, using a five-scale score. The observer reliability between both was calculated (Krippendorff's alpha). The results were not acceptable, with an agreement coefficient of 0.44 in the initial situation. Therefore, pictures of 3,000 feet scored by the automated system were evaluated systematically to detect deficiencies. The reference area (metatarsal footpad) was not detected correctly in 55.0% of the feet, and false detections of the alteration on the footpad (FPD) were found in 32.9% of the feet. In 41.3% of the feet, the foot was not presented straight to the camera. According to these results, the algorithm of the automated system was modified, aiming to improve color detection and the distinction of the metatarsal footpad from the background. Pictures of the feet, now scored by the modified algorithm, were evaluated again. Observer reliability could be improved (Krippendorff's alpha = 0.61). However, detection of the metatarsal footpad (50.9% incorrect detections) and alterations (27.0% incorrect detections) remained a problem. We found that the performance of the camera system was affected by the angle at which the foot was presented to the camera (skew/straight; p < 0.05). Furthermore, the laterality of the foot (left/right) was found to have a significant effect (p < 0.001). We propose that the latter depends on the slaughter process. This study also highlights a high variability in observer reliability of human observers. Depending on the respective target parameter, the reliability coefficient (Krippendorff's alpha) ranged from 0.21 to 0.82. This stresses the importance of finding an objective alternative. Therefore, it was concluded that the automated detection system could be appropriate to reliably assess FPD at the slaughterhouse. However, there is still room to improve the existing method, especially when using FPD as a welfare indicator.

Learn to Train: Improving Training Data for a Neural Network to Detect Pecking Injuries in Turkeys.

This study aimed to develop a camera-based system using artificial intelligence for automated detection of pecking injuries in turkeys. Videos were recorded and split into individual images for further processing. Using specifically developed software, the injuries visible on these images were marked by humans, and a neural network was trained with these annotations. Due to unacceptable agreement between the annotations of humans and the network, several work steps were initiated to improve the training data. First, a costly work step was used to create high-quality annotations (HQA) for which multiple observers evaluated already annotated injuries. Therefore, each labeled detection had to be validated by three observers before it was saved as "finished", and for each image, all detections had to be verified three times. Then, a network was trained with these HQA to assist observers in annotating more data. Finally, the benefit of the work step generating HQA was tested, and it was shown that the value of the agreement between the annotations of humans and the network could be doubled. Although the system is not yet capable of ensuring adequate detection of pecking injuries, the study demonstrated the importance of such validation steps in order to obtain good training data.

Large Group Housing Systems in Fattening Bulls-Comparison of Behavior and Performance.

According to international housing recommendations, fattening bulls should not be housed in groups of more than 12-20 animals. However, there are no scientific studies supporting these recommendations as most studies on fattening cattle refer to smaller groups. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze and compare behavior and performance of 187 fattening bulls housed in different group sizes of 16, 22, and 33 animals. Behavioral observations were performed during three observation periods at an average age of 8.5, 13, and 17 months. Furthermore, body condition, health status and carcass weights were analyzed. Effects of increasing group size were observed regarding more synchronized lying behavior, longer lying durations and more undisturbed feeding and lying behavior. Interindividual variations in lying and feeding as well as mean and maximum percentages of animals participating simultaneously in interactions did not increase with group size. Health and growth performance were satisfactory in all group sizes. Therefore, the results of this study do not provide scientific evidence for the common argument that increasing group size leads to increased aggression. Furthermore, these findings indicate large group systems to be suitable for the housing of fattening cattle and to contribute to increasing animal welfare. Consequently, current recommendations should be revised.

[Lying synchronization in fattening cattle at different space allowances]. / Synchronisation des Liegeverhaltens von Mastbullen bei verschiedenen Platzangeboten.

OBJECTIVE: Lying synchronization is an important characteristic of the natural behavior in cattle. The guideline for the housing of fattening cattle published in 2018 in Lower Saxony, Germany, requests for the first time that the lying area should be large enough to enable all animals to lie down simultaneously. However, up to now, lying synchrony in fattening cattle has only been scientifically analyzed to a small extent and detailed data on lying space requirements of fattening bulls are lacking altogether. Therefore, this study aimed at analyzing the lying synchronization level in fattening bulls housed at different space allowances as well as at examining whether simultaneous lying of all animals per pen occurs. MATERIAL AND METHODS: For this purpose, the lying behavior of 41 fattening bulls weighing more than 450 kg was analyzed. The cattle were housed in groups of 6-8 animals in slatted pens with rubber mats covering the slats either completely or in the back part of the pen. The pens were divided into 3 space allowance groups (A: 3.1-3.5 m2 [n = 2], B: 4.0-4.2 m2 [n = 2], C: 6.7 m2 [n = 2]). The lying time of all individuals was analyzed via video recordings during 2 consecutive light periods (17 h in total). RESULTS: On average, the animals in the different space allowance groups spent 5 h 30 min to 9 h 6 min lying during the 2 light periods. In one pen of both groups A and B each, simultaneous lying of all animals never occurred during the observation period. In the remaining pens, it occurred during a time range of 27 min to 4 h. A minimum of 80 % of the animals were lying simultaneously in all pens during a period ranging from 1 h 30 min to 7 h 13 min. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: At in practice commonly provided space allowances between 3.1 m2 and 4.2 m2 , simultaneous lying of all animals per pen did not occur in a subset of pens. Time periods with all but 1 or 2 animals lying or animals lying down directly after another individual regained standing position indicate the attempt of the group's individuals to synchronize their lying behavior. However, these attempts appear to be restricted by limited lying area size. The presented results emphasize the necessity of further studies regarding the space requirements of fattening cattle for lying in order to define the space allowance required for simultaneous lying of all animals.

Occurrence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, microbial loads, and endotoxin levels in dust from laying hen houses in Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Poultry houses are often highly contaminated with dust, which might contain considerable amounts of microorganisms and endotoxins. The concentrations of microorganisms and endotoxins in dust from laying hen houses in Egypt are unknown. However, to estimate the risks for birds, the environment, and people working in laying hen houses, it is important to gather information about the composition of these dusts. Here we report the microbial loads, the occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and endotoxin concentrations in dust samples from 28 laying hen farms in Dakahliya Governorate, Egypt, and discuss the results relevant to the literature. RESULTS: Pooled settled dust samples (n = 28) were analyzed for total viable counts of bacteria and fungi (CFU/g), the occurrence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella spp., and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and endotoxin concentrations (ng/g). The means and standard deviations of total viable counts were 7.10 × 108 ± 2.55 × 109 CFU/g for bacteria and 5.37 × 106 ± 7.26 × 106 CFU/g for fungi. Endotoxin levels varied from 2.9 × 104 to 6.27 × 105 ng/g. None of the tested samples contained Salmonella spp. or MRSA. In contrast, by direct plating, Enterobacteriaceae were found frequently (57%; n = 16), and suspected ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae occurred in 21% (n = 6) of the sampled barns. Using an enrichment method, the detection of Enterobacteriaceae and suspected ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae increased to 20 and 16 positive barns, respectively. Taking results from both methods into account, Enterobacteriaceae and suspected ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae were detected in 23 barns Overall, 100 ESBL suspected isolates (Escherichia coli, n = 64; Enterobacter cloacae, n = 20; and Klebsiella pneumoniae n = 16) were identified to species level by MALDI-TOF MS. Isolates from 20 barns (71% positive barns) were confirmed as ESBL producing Enterobacteriaceae by the broth microdilution test. CONCLUSIONS: Dust in Egyptian laying hen houses contains high concentrations of microorganisms and endotoxins, which might impair the health of birds and farmers when inhaled. Furthermore, laying hens in Egypt seem to be a reservoir for ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae. Thus, farmers are at risk of exposure to ESBL-producing bacteria, and colonized hens might transmit these bacteria into the food chain.

Feeding Behavior of Fattening Bulls Fed Six Times per Day Using an Automatic Feeding System.

The usage of automatic feeding systems (AFS) in cattle offers multiple advantages, mostly due to the possibility of an increased feeding frequency. While it is gaining more and more importance in dairy farming, there is still a lack of experience and scientific knowledge regarding its use in fattening cattle. The aim of this study was to describe the behavior of 56 Simmental bulls fed with an AFS six times daily a total mixed ration. The animals arrived at the farm with an average age of 148 ± 11 days. They were housed in four straw-bedded pens in groups of 14 animals each. Their average slaughter age was 558 ± 20 days. Behavioral observations were made during three observation periods (OP) at an average of 11, 14, and 16 months of age. Using scan sampling, feeding, and lying behavior of all animals and the order of bulls feeding after feed delivery were recorded. Furthermore, body condition and health status were monitored and complemented with the carcass weights. Body condition, health status, and carcass weights of the bulls were found to be satisfactory: Mean body condition score increased from 2.8 ± 0.3 in OP1 to 3.0 ± 0.1 in OP3 and mean carcass weight was 432.71 ± 40.82 kg. No severe health problems occurred. The feeding activity of the bulls was spread out over the course of the day with peaks in the afternoon and evening. Percentages of bulls feeding per pen never exceeded 20%, animals feeding mostly alone (during 28.04 ± 2.15% of total observation time) or in groups of two to three (16.61 ± 2.00% and 6.74 ± 1.90%). The order of bulls feeding after feed delivery varied indicating that all animals had similar access to fresh feed. These results emphasize the importance of constant feed availability and quality at any time of the day, thus indicating the ability of an AFS with six daily feedings to ensure such a consistency.

Walking on Tiptoes: Digital Pads Deserve Increased Attention When Scoring Footpad Dermatitis as an Animal Welfare Indicator in Turkeys.

Animal welfare is one of the most challenging issues in modern farm animal husbandry. Animal welfare indicators can be used to monitor welfare on farms or at slaughterhouses, with footpad dermatitis (FPD) being one of the most important indicators used in turkeys. Up to now, the severity of FPD has been measured by evaluating the size of altered lesions on the metatarsal pad of birds. However, such lesions are not only found on the metatarsal pads, but alterations can also occur on the digital pads of the animals, the latter is not included in the European standard scoring systems for turkeys so far. The aim of the present study was to give a detailed outline of alterations on the digital pads of turkeys and associate their occurrence to a standardly used five-point scoring system, which is based on alterations of the metatarsal pad only. Therefore, pictures of 500 feet of turkeys from 16 flocks at the end of the fattening phase were taken, using an automatic camera system. Based on these pictures, alterations on the digits were scored according to different parameters (lesions, swellings, and number of affected digits). Furthermore, detailed measurements were conducted using an imaging software. Results were compared with a standardly used five-point scoring system (standard FPD scoring system), based on the metatarsal pad as reference. Results provide no equivalence in occurrence and severity of alterations on the metatarsal pads compared to those found on the digits. Pathologic alterations on the digits were already present at standard FPD scoring level 0; no differentiation became obvious between the higher scoring levels 2-4. Strong correlations were found when comparing percentage of alterations of the standard FPD scoring system to those of a system including alterations on the digits and the metatarsal pad, using the total foot as a reference (rp = 0.9, p < 0.001). This was the first study conducting a detailed analysis of alterations on the digits of turkeys. In conclusion, results of this study show that including the evaluation of alterations on digits could refine the present FPD scoring system, especially when using FPD as an animal welfare indicator.

Evaluation of an automated assessment system for ear and tail lesions as animal welfare indicators in pigs at slaughter.

The aim of this pilot study was to develop and evaluate an automated system for the assessment of ear and tail lesions as welfare indicators in pigs at the abattoir. A camera-based system was constructed to enable automatic assessment. This was evaluated in comparison to a standard observer, defined as skilled human veterinary observer, based on 5952 carcasses. We detected significant values for ear lesions (sensitivity, 77.0; specificity, 96.5; accuracy, 95.4%) and good values for tail lesions (sensitivity, 77.8%; specificity, 99.7%; accuracy, 99.5%). The reliabilities of assessments by four individual human observers directly at the abattoir and the camera system were calculated using Krippendorff's alpha. These varied between 0.42 and 0.67 for ear lesions and 0.42 and 0.55 for tail lesions, while better values were reached for the agreement between the system and picture-based evaluation (0.64 for ear lesions and 0.75 for tail lesions). More scientific evaluations at different abattoirs are now needed to further test and improve the camera-based system and its various scopes of application.

The Effect of Sows' and Piglets' Behaviour on Piglet Crushing Patterns in Two Different Farrowing Pen Systems.

Pens with farrowing crate (FC) and two differently designed free-farrowing pens (LH-pens: 7.3 m², plastic flooring; GH-pens: 5 m², cast-iron and concrete flooring) were compared regarding piglet losses and postpartum sow behaviour (all treatments) and reasons for piglet crushing and postpartum litter behaviour (LH and GH). One-hundred-and-three crushing events were analysed in eight batches concerning sows' posture changes that crushed piglets and age of crushed piglets. Posture change frequency, amounts of single posture changes and total time spent in different body postures were evaluated for 41 sows (14 FC-sows, 13 LH-sows and 14 GH-sows) in six batches. Litter behaviour (location, active/inactive scoring, resting behaviour next to the sow) was analysed during sows' posture changes and piglet crushing. Piglet mortality was higher in LH (25.6%) and GH (19.9%) compared to FC (12.3%) due to higher levels of piglet crushing. Most crushing occurred during the three days postpartum in LH (92.7%) and GH (83.9%). However, crushing patterns differed between LH (rolling: 68.2%; sit-to-lie: 18.2%; stand-to-lie: 11.4%) and GH (rolling: 38.2%; sit-to-lie: 30.9%; stand-to-lie: 16.4%) and varying piglet behaviour may be the cause for this. The postpartum period was characterized by inactivity of the sow and behavioural differences were rarely seen between systems.

Low-frequency electromagnetic fields as an alternative to sanitize water of drinking systems in poultry production?

Low-frequency electromagnetic fields (LF-EMF) may present an alternative to conventional sanitation methods of water supply lines in animal production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the application of LF-EMF on bacterial concentrations and biofilms at scale-models of different drinking systems (circulating and non-circulating) conventionally used in poultry holdings. Treated systems were equipped with commercial devices producing pulsed electromagnetic signals of low frequency up to 10,000 Hz; max. 21 mT. Exposure of water to LF-EMF resulted in changes of the culturable bacterial counts, although with high standard deviations. Differing between systems types, LF-EMF treatment seemed to be responsible either for a limitation or for an increase of colony forming unit counts, with partly statistically significant differences, especially in early stages of treatment. In contrast, neither biofilm formation nor counts of cells suspended in water differed between treated and control lines over 28 days of experiment, as determined by fluorescence microscopy. Although this study indicates that LF-EMF may influence culturability of water microorganisms, no clear inhibitory effects on bacterial biofilm formation or on planktonic microbes by LF-EMF treatment were confirmed in the experiments.

Using the Footfall Sound of Dairy Cows for Detecting Claw Lesions.

An important factor for animal welfare in cattle farming is the detection of lameness. The presented study is part of a project aiming to develop a system that is capable of an automated diagnosis of claw lesions by analyzing the footfall sound. Data were generated from cows walking along a measurement zone where piezoelectric sensors recorded their footfall sounds. Locomotion of the animals was scored and they were graded according to a three-scale scoring system (LS1 = non-lame; LS2 = uneven gait; LS3 = lame). Subsequently, the cows were examined by a hoof trimmer. The walking speed across the test track was significantly higher in cows with LS1 compared to those with LS2 and LS3 and thus, they were showing a smoother gait pattern. The standard deviation of volume (SDV) in the recorded footfall sound signal was considered as a factor for the force of a cow's footsteps. Cows with non-infectious claw lesions showed lower SDV than healthy cows and those with infectious claw diseases. This outcome confirmed the hypothesis that the evaluated cows affected by non-infectious claw lesions have a greater sensitivity to pain and demonstrate a less forceful gait pattern. These first results clearly show the potential of using footfall sound analysis for detecting claw lesions.

Evaluation of a gait scoring system for cattle by using cluster analysis and Krippendorff's α reliability.

The aim of the presented study was to validate a three-point locomotion score (LS) classifying lameness in dairy cows. Therefore, locomotion of 144 cows was scored and data on claw lesions were collected during hoof trimming. Based on latter data a cluster analysis was performed to objectively classify cows into three groups (Cluster 1-3). Finally, the congruence between scoring system and clustering was tested using Krippendorff's α reliability. In total, 63 cows (43.7 per cent) were classified as non-lame (LS1), 38 (26.4 per cent) were rated as LS2 with an uneven gait and 43 (29.9 per cent) cows were ranked as clearly lame (LS3). In comparison, hoof-trimming data revealed 64 cows (44.4 per cent) to show no diagnosis, 37 (25.7 per cent) one diagnosis, 33 animals (22.9 per cent) two diagnoses and 10 (7.0 per cent) more than two. Comparing the respective categorisation received by either the cluster analysis or LS in between groups, a high correspondence (79.4 per cent and 83.7 per cent) could be found for LS1 and cluster 1 as well as for LS3 and cluster 3. Only LS2 had partial agreement (21.1 per cent) to cluster 2. However, Krippendorff's α was 0.75 (95 per cent CI 0.68 to 0.81), indicating a good degree of reliability. Therefore, the results of this study suggested that the presented LS is suitable for classifying the cows' state of lameness representing their claw diseases.

Resistance of Enterococcus spp. in Dust From Farm Animal Houses: A Retrospective Study.

In a retrospective study, the antimicrobial susceptibility of Enterococcus spp. isolated from stored sedimentation dust samples from cattle, pig and poultry barns to 16 antibiotics was determined using a microdilution test. The resistance phenotypes of 70 isolates from different timespans (8 from the 1980s, 15 from the 1990s, 43 from the 2000s and 4 from 2015) were determined. Resistant enterococci were detected in samples from all time periods. Resistances to three or more antibiotics occurred in 69 percent of all isolates. The oldest multidrug resistant isolate was an Enterococcus faecium obtained from a 35-year-old pig barn dust sample. No correlations (ρ = 0.16, p = 0.187) were found between the age of isolates and the number of resistances. Instead, the number of resistances was associated with the origin of the isolates. An exact logistic conditional regression analysis showed significant differences in resistance to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, penicillin and tylosin between isolates from different animal groups. Interestingly, we isolated ciprofloxacin-resistant E. faecium from pig barn dust before fluoroquinolones were introduced into the market for use in animal husbandry. In conclusion, dust from farm animal houses is a reservoir and carrier of multidrug-resistant Enterococcus spp. People working in barns are unavoidably exposed to these bacteria. Furthermore, it can be hypothesized that emissions from barns of intensive livestock farming contaminate the environment with multidrug resistant enterococci.

Do Pigs Have Adequate Space in Animal Transportation Vehicles?-Planimetric Measurement of the Floor Area Covered by Finishing Pigs in Various Body Positions.

In this study, the floor area covered by individual finishing pigs in various body positions was measured using a contrast-based planimetric method for computer-assisted analysis of two-dimensional images. Two hundred and thirty-two finishing pigs were weighed during the last fifth of the fattening period and measured in different body positions using contrast-based planimetry. Thirteen body positions were defined based on characteristic directions of the head, legs and body. The lowest average covered floor area was found for body position A (pig standing up straight, nose touching the ground) with 0.288 ± 0.026 m2. The highest average covered floor area for a standing pig amounted to 0.335 ± 0.030 m2 in body posture ES (pig standing curved sideways, head raised above the dorsal line) and, for a lying pig, 0.486 ± 0.040 m2 (posture LL, pig lying in fully lateral recumbent position). The covered floor surface significantly depended on the weight of the animal and the body posture. Allometric estimations previously described for calculating the floor area physically covered by a pig's body are not consistently precise in depicting the actual areas covered. The minimal floor area offered in animal transportation vehicles, according to European legislation, is insufficient in the case of all pigs lying in the fully recumbent position simultaneously, without the pigs being forced to partially overlap one another. Therefore, both allometric formulas and legislation should be modified on the basis of these results and further studies with pigs of modern genetic origin should be conducted.