Body Dynamics, Social Meaning-Making, and Scale Heterogeneity: Reconsidering Contextualization Cues and Language as Mixed-Mode Semiosis

    January 2003 in “ Benjamins eBooks ”
    Paul J. Thibault
    TLDR Confinement in farrowing crates doesn't increase chronic stress in sows, but hair cortisol measurements may not reliably indicate stress due to hair growth variations.
    The study investigated the impact of confinement in farrowing crates on chronic stress in sows by analyzing hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) from 61 sows. Results showed no significant difference in HCC between sows in farrowing crates and those in a loose-housing system, suggesting confinement did not affect chronic stress levels. However, the study noted that long-term stress might downregulate cortisol levels, and other stressors like farrowing could influence HCC. Additionally, significant differences in hair growth rates were observed within the same body region, indicating that hair cortisol measurements might be affected by hair growth and length, thus limiting their use in comparing chronic stress across different housing systems.
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