Social support attenuates the adverse consequences of social deprivation stress in domestic piglets

• Social deprivation causes behavioral and physiological signs of stress in piglets.
• Younger piglets have more difficulty coping with social stress.
• Support from a social partner buffers the negative consequences of social stress.
• Familiar social partners strengthen the effectiveness of buffering.

Social deprivation is a severe stressor affecting a number of behavioral and physiological functions of gregarious species. It is assumed that, dependent upon the level of familiarity, social support given by a conspecific may attenuate the adverse consequences of stress. We investigated the effects of a 4 h maternal and littermate deprivation on behavioral reactions, stress hormone responses and brain corticosteroid receptor expression in 7-, 21- and 35-day-old domestic piglets (Sus scrofa) that were left alone or in the presence either of a familiar or unfamiliar age-matched piglet. Compared to control animals, all of the socially deprived piglets showed significant stress responses, such as impaired habituation in repeated open-field/novel-object tests, enhanced ACTH and cortisol release, and altered corticosteroid receptor expression in the hypothalamus. In addition, our results demonstrated that younger piglets had more difficulty coping with stress. The presence of an age-matched conspecific had a direct calming effect on the deprived piglet during the deprivation procedure, which was revealed by diminished stress-induced HPA activity and altered reactions in the behavioral test situations (e.g., activity, escape, and vocalization). Furthermore, because the presence of a familiar piglet causes a more pronounced buffering effect, we have shown for the first time that the degree of familiarity between the piglets may influence the effectiveness of social support. Our study emphasizes the benefits of social partners on positive welfare and the ability for pigs to cope with stress; therefore, our results should be taken into account during handling practices such as weaning and mixing.