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Farmed pigs appear to find life less stressful when they can sniff the scent of lavender a few times a day.

When it is sprayed into the pigs鈥� pens, lavender oil leads to less aggression and self-directed tail biting, as well as more time spent lying down, a study has found. This suggests the plant extract might help young pigs cope with the constraints of commercial farming better, says at the University of Pisa in Italy.

鈥淭his is a starting point for future innovations and research towards sustainable, green farming systems,鈥� he says.

Many pigs on commercial farms struggle with overcrowding, boredom and the inability to move around outdoors and root at the ground, says Elmi. The stress can lead them to be aggressive towards each other and themselves.

Previous research has shown that inhaling lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil can reduce stress in and . During his at the University of Bologna, Elmi and his colleagues tested the oil鈥檚 effects on three-month-old castrated male pigs in the university鈥檚 experimental farm.

The researchers divided 84 young pigs into three groups. One group鈥檚 pens were sprayed with a mixture containing lavender essential oil for 10 minutes three times a day. The second group had the same routine but with an odourless spray, while a third group got no spray at all.

After 72 days, the pigs that inhaled the lavender scent had fewer wounds on their thighs and flanks than those in the other two groups, suggesting they were less aggressive towards each other, says Elmi. They also spent more time lying down, indicating they were calmer, and had less severe self-inflicted tail wounds.

By contrast, the pigs that received the spray without lavender oil fared worse than those with nothing at all. That might be because the vaporiser vibrates and makes so much noise that it upsets the pigs 鈥� an issue that could be hindering more positive effects of the lavender oil vaporisation. 鈥淲e need to investigate other delivery methods,鈥� says Elmi.