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207 - MODULAÇÃO ETOLÓGICA INDIVIDUAL E PRESSÃO SOCIAL EM BAIAS COLETIVAS DE SUÍNOS: UMA REVISÃO SISTEMÁTICA DA TERMORREGULAÇÃO

Doi: 10.47094/978-65-284-0452-0/2075-2081

PALAVRAS CHAVE: Estresse térmico. Modulação comportamental. Bem-estar animal.

KEYWORDS: Thermal stress. Animal behavior. Precision livestock farming.

ABSTRACT:
Heat stress is one of the main limiting factors in contemporary intensive pig farming, severely impacting animal welfare and the overall production efficiency of farms. Due to intrinsic physiological and anatomical limitations of the species, such as the presence of afunctional sweat glands and a thick layer of subcutaneous adipose tissue, pigs rely heavily on ethological modulation as their first and most efficient line of defense for the maintenance of thermal homeostasis. However, in confinement and collective housing systems, the expression of these individual thermoregulatory strategies is directly influenced and often restricted by the social dynamics and hierarchical structure established within the group. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the scientific literature published in the last five years (2021–2026) in the SciELO, Scopus, and PubMed databases, critically analyzing how social pressure modulates individual ethological responses and access to localized cooling resources in collective pens of growing and finishing pigs. The results show that animals that assume dominant positions actively and deliberately monopolize the zones of greater thermal comfort (such as areas equipped with sprinklers, directed ventilation or cooled floors), forcing the submissive individuals of the lot to face significantly more severe bioclimatic challenges or to adopt inappropriate and harmful body postures, such as crowding in damp and dirty areas. This social asymmetry generates a chronic distortion in traditional bioclimatic assessments, which are based on general averages of the lot or static readings of the microclimate. It is concluded that the implementation of Precision Animal Science (PLF) tools, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) and computer vision algorithms, is indispensable to isolate individual responses, providing scientific subsidies for the redesign of more equitable and efficient zootechnical facilities.

Autores

  • Janaína Paolucci Sales de Lima

  • Rodrigo Henrique Risso Aires Alves

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