Baumann, S., Pflanz, W., Gallmann, E. et al. 2013. The effect of rubber mats on preference and lying behaviour of group housed sows. Landtechnik 68(6), 385-388.

This study analyses the preferences, as well as the lying behaviour, of sows with various types of mat in a group housing system lying area. The sows in the trial could choose between six bays with three lying surfaces (concrete, hard or soft rubber matting). The behaviour of the animals was video recorded continually over seven days. The results show that sows preferred malleable floor coverings for lying on. The soft rubber mats were preferred with 53.6 % occupancy over hard rubber mats with 38.1 %. The bare concrete flooring was, with 8.3 % occupancy, relatively seldom used.