 Piglets may be happy wallowing in the mud, but they get a much better start in life if they are nurtured on a warm waterbed.
Instead of snuggling up to their mothers for warmth in their cold pigsty and running the risk of being crushed -- a common cause of early porcine death -- German scientists said waterbeds could be a safer alternative. When Martin Ziron and researchers at the Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics in Giessen, Germany tested various heating methods on 1,400 piglets during their first few weeks of life, waterbeds won hands down. "Around 99 percent of the piglets preferred warm waterbeds to any of the alternatives, spending well over half the day lounging about on them and only getting up to feed or play," New Scientist said Wednesday. The scientists compared the number of injuries, which usually occur while scrambling for a feeding position, and the weight gain of the piglets which were provided with plastic plates, foam mats, waterbeds, straw or concrete. Piglets on the waterbeds had fewer injuries and gained much more weight than the animals kept on concrete. "The waterbeds are made from a tough plastic membrane and can be heated from underneath by an electric mat or from above by infra-red lamps," according to the magazine. (Agencies) | 小豬們總喜歡在泥淖里滾來滾去。但如果把它們養在暖暖的水床里面，將會更加有利于它們今后的成長。 住在冰冷的豬窩里的小豬為了取暖，拼命依偎在母豬的身邊。它們很有可能被擠死，這也是造成幼豬死亡的常見的原因。德國科學家研究發現，水床可以代替豬窩讓小豬更加安全地成長。 德國吉森動物飼養遺傳研究所的研究員馬丁和他的同事給1400只小豬在出生后幾周內試用了各種保溫方法，試驗證明水床是最受小豬歡迎的。  《新科學家》雜志11月20日刊登文章說：約99%的小豬喜歡水床勝過其他選擇。它們每天有一大半時間懶在床上，只有吃東西或玩耍時才肯起來。
小豬常常會為了吃東西搶個好位置而受傷。科學家們分別比較了小豬生活在塑膠墊、泡沫墊、水床、干草和水泥環境中受傷和長胖的幾率。 比起養在水泥環境下的小豬，水床上的小豬受傷更少，長肉更多。 雜志上還說："水床是由一種強韌的塑料膜制成，可以用電熱毯從底部加熱，也可以用紅外線燈從頂部進行加熱。" win hands down: 輕易大勝，垂手贏得 （中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2002-11-25 01:00
