Monthly Archives: December 2018

Providing enrichment to alleviate pain due to castration and tail docking in pigs

Enrichment, Pigs, Tail docking

Evaluating environmental enrichment as a method to alleviate pain after castration and tail docking in pigs. By Brittany L. Backus, John J. McGlone, 2018. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 204: 37-42.

Highlights

• Enrichment did not mitigate pain associated with management procedures.

• Enrichment had a positive effect on growth, activity and immunity.

• Enrichment improved pig welfare even if it did not mitigate piglet processing pain.

Abstract Castration and tail docking are common management practices performed on commercial swine farms in the US and around the world to reduce adverse behaviors and the occurrence of boar taint. However, these practices themselves are a welfare concern for the piglet because they cause acute pain. The provisions of environmental enrichment (EE) may reduce anxiety, protect from stressors, influence pain sensitivity, and improve the overall welfare of animals. Our objective was to determine if EE can reduce the physiological and behavioral stress response caused by castration and tail docking in piglets over time. Sows were randomly assigned to control farrowing stalls (CON; n = 9) or stalls enriched (ENRICH; n = 9) with newspaper, soil, ball and rope, so that EE was available to piglets upon birth. At 5 days old, ENRICH and CON piglets (n = 54 per treatment) were allocated to one of six piglet husbandry treatments; four boar piglets were randomly allocated to one of four treatments: 1) control handled (SHAM B), 2) tail docked (TAIL B), 3) castrated (CAST), or 4) castrated and tail docked (BOTH); and two gilt piglets were randomly allocated to one of two treatments: 5) control handled (SHAM G), or 6) tail docked (TAIL G). Live weight tended (P < 0.10) to be greater in all ENRICH pigs. Leukocytes and the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were decreased (P < 0.05) among ENRICH compared with CON piglets. ENRICH piglets were more active (P < 0.05) than CON piglets. Maintenance and play behaviors decreased (P < 0.05) 120 min after, but returned to baseline at 24 h. Cortisol was greater (P < 0.05) among CAST and BOTH piglets, but no differences were observed in cortisol concentrations between housing groups. Stress vocalizations were greater (P < 0.05) in CAST and BOTH compared with SHAM piglets, while all pig processing treatments displayed more (P < 0.05) pain behaviors than SHAM. The use of EE had no effect on reducing pain-induced stress of castration and tail docking. However, we found that pigs raised with EE were heavier and more active than pigs raised without enrichment. We also found that EE modulated the immune response in pigs. In conclusion, EE improved the overall welfare of pigs at an early age.

Risk factors for tail lesions in weaner pigs

Pigs, Straw, Tail biting, Tail docking, Welfare

Factors influencing the risk for tail lesions in weaner pigs (Sus scrofa). by Angelika Grümpel, Joachim Krieter, Christina Veit, Sabine Dippel, 2018. Livestock science 216: 219-226.

Highlights

We identified five factors influencing the risk for tail lesions in weaner pigs.•

We can recommend regression tree analysis for describing tail lesion risk factors.•

Data interpretation should include information on correlations between variables.

Abstract

Tail biting is a behavioural disorder in pigs which results in tail lesions. Many factors must be considered to reduce the risk for tail biting due to the multifactorial character of this behaviour. We developed a software-based tail biting management tool called “SchwIP” for analysing farm individual risk factors for tail biting in weaner pigs. SchwIP was applied on 25 conventional farms throughout Germany who kept weaner pigs in closed barns (median 1,800 weaning places). The farms were visited up to three times between August 2016 and November 2017 and a total of 368 pens were assessed. Data regarding enrichment, pen environment, feed, water, climate, health, farm management, transport and regrouping were analysed with regression tree analysis (RT) using pen level prevalence of tail lesions (%) as the outcome variable. There were five primary influencing factors for tail lesions: docking status, stocking density, daily weight gain, suckling piglet losses and number of litters mixed during weaning. The correlation between observed and predicted prevalence of tail lesions across all pens was 0.6. Most of the factors may represent combinations of influences on a farm which agree with the multifactorial nature of the problem. Even though weight gain may also be influenced by tail biting behaviour and thus be a parallel outcome, it could be used by farmers as an indicator for initiating closer examination and intervention. The use of RT for visualising complex risk factor analyses is recommendable, though their analytical suitability for clustered data should further be evaluated.


Early indicators of tail biting in pigs

Enrichment, Pigs, Tail biting

Early indicators of tail biting outbreaks in pigs. By Maya Wedin, Emma M. Baxter, Mhairi Jack, Agnieszka Futro, Richard B. D’Eath.
Applied Animal Behaviour Science: 208: 7-12

Highlights

Tail biting in pigs is unpredictable so early indicators could help farmers.•

Behaviour of tail biting vs no tail biting groups observed for 1 week pre-outbreak.•

Outbreak groups had fewer curly tails and more tucked tails.•

Activity pre-outbreak was no different in outbreak groups.•

Day and time of day had little or no effect on these findings.

Abstract

Tail biting outbreaks in pig farming cause suffering through pain and stress, and producers lose revenue due to carcass condemnation. Reliable behavioural indications of when an outbreak is imminent would provide farmers with tools for mitigating the outbreak in advance. This study investigated changes in body and tail posture in the 7 days pre-outbreak.

Pigs in 15 groups with a mean (±s.d.) group size of 27.5 (±2.6; 427 in total) were raised from birth under intensive commercial conditions and with tails intact. Twice daily inspections were made, and a tail biting outbreak was identified (and treated) if 3 or more pigs had fresh tail injuries, or any pig was seen with a freshly bleeding tail or vigorously biting a tail. Video footage was recorded continuously to allow pre-outbreak behaviour recording of body posture (lying laterally, lying ventrally, sitting, standing) and tail posture (curled or uncurled (high, low, tucked)). Pigs were not individually marked, thus observations were made at pen level by group scan sampling 12 times per day on day -1, -3, -5 and -7 pre-outbreak. Each outbreak group was paired with a non-outbreak group of the same age and kept at the facility at the same time which served as a control. A total of 12 pairs were used. Outbreak pigs had fewer curled tails (P = 0.013) and more uncurled (P = 0.008) and tucked tails (P < 0.001) than control pigs overall, but particularly on day -1. Outbreak groups had more tucked tails compared to control on day -7 (P = 0.001). Tail posture did not vary over days, or with time of day. Body posture was not different between outbreak and control groups, and although it was affected by time of day, there was no interaction between outbreak vs. control condition and day, or time of day. Synchrony of behaviour between pigs (more pigs in the pen showing the same body posture) was not reduced in outbreak groups. In conclusion, this study supports other recent findings showing that an increase in tucked tails, and reduced curled tails is an advance indicator of a tail biting outbreak giving at least 7 days warning, and it does not matter what time of day tails are observed. Pig farmers could take note of tail posture changes to identify high risk pens. Considerable variability between pens, and in the timing and magnitude of change means that technology to automate tail posture detection will be of benefit.

Effect of straw on behaviour, lesions and pen hygiene in undocked pigs

Enrichment, Pigs, Straw

Implication and impact of straw provision on behaviour, lesions and pen hygiene on commercial farms rearing undocked pigs. By Torun Wallgren, Anne Larsen, Nils Lundeheim, Rebecka Westin, Stefan Gunnarsson, 2018. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. In press.

Highlights

Pigs that received more straw had more straw directed behaviour.•

Pigs that received more straw showed less pen directed behaviour.•

Increased straw ration decreased the amount of damaged tails in finishing pigs.•

Increased straw provision did not affect pen hygiene.

Abstract

According to the European Union Council Directive 2008/120EC, measures to minimise the risk for tail biting shall be taken before practicing tail docking, e.g. provision of manipulable material. Still,>90% of the pigs within EU are tail docked. Thus, management routines for providing manipulable material in commercial pig production are needed. The aim of this study was to investigate how an increase from normal straw ration influence pig behaviour, occurrence of tail- and ear lesions and impact on pen hygiene.
The experiment was conducted on five Swedish commercial farms; one grower and four farrow-to-finish farms. One batch per farm was studied, following pigs throughout the grower or finishing pig period. Both age groups were examined in two of the farrow-to-finish farms and only finishers in the other two, studying three grower and four finisher batches in total. The pens in a batch were divided into Control (C) and Extra Straw (ES). Pens in C were provided with the farm normal daily straw ratio, while pigs in ES got a doubled C-ration. The pigs in eight focus pens per Treatment were scored for lesions on ears and tails every two weeks. In connection with lesion scoring, behaviour observation was conducted in active pigs during one hour (4 min scan sampling) in the focus pens. All pigs in the batch were examined for tail- and ear lesions during the first and last week of the experiment.
Both growers and finishers spent most of their active time manipulating straw. ES-pigs showed more straw-directed and less pen-directed behaviour in both age groups compared to C-pigs. Behaviour was also affected by farm and age revealing that the impact of an increased straw ration differed between farms and pig age. The increased straw ration did not affect the pen cleanliness, showing that it was practically feasible to increase the straw rations on all participating farms.
The prevalence of tail damages increased with age, and more severe damages was found in C compared to ES. Severe tail and ear lesions were found in ~0.6 and 0.07% of the growers and ~2.2 and 0.75% of the finishers, C- and ES pigs respectively. Approximately 50% of the finishing pigs had tail damages at the end of the study, but the majority of lesions were less than 5 mm long and might not have been detected without close clinical examination.

Optical flow to monitor tail biting outbreaks in pigs.

Pigs, Tail biting, Tail docking

Utilization of optical flow to monitor development of tail biting outbreaks in pigs. By Y Li, H Zhang, L Johnston, M Dawkins, 2018. Journal of Animal Science 96: 519.

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate activity changes in pigs associated with outbreaks of tail biting using an optical flow platform. Pigs (n=240, 24.9 ± 2.9 kg, 9-wk old) were housed in 8 pens of 30 pigs on slatted floors for 16 weeks. Four pens housed pigs with tails docked and the other 4 pens housed pigs with tails intact. Pigs were assessed for tail scores (0=no injury to 4=severe injury) once weekly. Behaviors of pigs were video-recorded twice weekly. One-hour video segments during morning, noon, and afternoon of each recording day were analyzed for optical flow using the OPTICFLOCK platform which measures movements of pigs in each pen. The same video segments were scanned at 5-min intervals to estimate time budget for standing/walking, lying, eating, drinking, and tail biting. Compared with docked pigs, intact pigs had higher tail scores (0.5 ± 0.29 vs. 0.1 ± 0.01; P < 0.001) and higher optical flow (8.2 vs. 6.9; SE=0.42; P < 0.05), suggesting more tail injuries and higher activity levels. Intact pigs spent less time lying (P < 0.001) and more time eating (P < 0.01) and tail biting (P < 0.01), and tended to spend more time standing/walking (P=0.08) than docked pigs, which support the optical flow data. During outbreaks of tail biting, intact pigs had higher optical flow during the first outbreak (14.59, SE=0.73; P < 0.05) compared to before (5.44) and after (10.54) the outbreak, suggesting activity changes during the development of tail biting outbreaks. Across tail docking treatments and observation days, pigs had lower optical flow at noon (6.9, SE=0.33; P < 0.001) compared to morning (7.8) and afternoon (7.9), suggesting that pigs were less active at noon which was supported by the behavioral time budgets. These results suggest that optical flow might be a promising tool for monitoring activity changes in pigs during the development of tail biting.