Abstract. Title of the paper: Ethological investigations on occupation with the bedding of boars in Artificial Insemination stations
Continuous video recordings with infrared video technique and computer supported analysis with OBSERVER program took place with 78 Piétrain boars in three A.I. stations during 3 x 24 hours. The mean percentage of occupation with the bedding during 24 hours was 7.4 ± 4.4 % (= 106.6 minutes) with a minimum of 1.5 % and a maximum of 18.6 %. The factors A.I. station, season and pen size had a significant influence on occupation with straw as bedding material. The percentage of occupation with bedding in winter was 1.8 % higher than in summer. The percentage of occupation with bedding increased with increasing pen size (from 5.5 % to 11.9 %). The differences between the A.I. stations (between 6.4 % and 10.1 % on average) were caused by management, especially by the frequency of the timers feeding, bedding and watering. The more frequent the boars were caused to stand up by feeding, bedding and watering the higher was the percentage of occupation with the bedding.