Temporary crating of sows is one of the alternatives to conventional permanent crating systems, aiming to improve welfare of lactating sows by providing them with more freedom of movement. During the Short-Term Scientific Mission in September/October 2025 at the Department of Animal Science, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, in Domžale, Slovenia, Adéla Bařtipánová participated in project focused on comparing permanent and temporary crating under the supervision of Dr Manja Zupan Šemrov. The aim of the study was to compare effects of temporary and permanent crating on the occurrence of positive nosing behaviour between sow and piglets and within the litter.
During her stay, Adéla was primarily involved in the behavioural data analysis of pre-recorded videos. A key part of her work involved organising and selecting videos suitable for observation, preparing data for the analysis, and analysing the data. Based on published literature she developed an ethogram and behavioural coding scheme to make sure behaviours were properly labelled. She learned to work with the coding program BORIS and subsequently used it for analysis. She received training in the use of randomisation tools and interobserver reliability checks, helping her understand more of methodological consistency in behavioural research. She also contributed to the introduction and methodology section of the upcoming manuscript.
In addition to her main work, she visited a commercial chicken farm to participate in a poultry welfare study. Adéla assisted in assessing the effects of scatter feeding on parent flocks. This experience broadened her perspective on the application of welfare assessment methods across different species. The STSM offered Adéla valuable insight into behavioural research, data analysis and manuscript writing. She also made new colleagues and friends who share similar research interests and is looking forward to future collaboration. Outside of her research activities, she also took the opportunity to explore the beautiful nature of Slovenia, enjoying the country ’s beauty, and she is interested in returning.
