Evaluation of carcass quality, body and pulmonary lesions detected at the abattoir in heavy pigs subjected or not to tail docking

Abstract

Background Nowadays, body and tail lesions and respiratory disease are some of the greatest problems affecting the health and welfare of pigs. The aim of the study was to measure the prevalence of pleurisy, bronchopneumonia (enzootic pneumonia like lesions) and lesions on tail and body of heavy pigs subjected or not to tail docking through the inspection in Italian abattoirs. Additionally, the effect of tail docking and season was investigated on carcass quality (weight, % of lean meat, and Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) classification). For this purpose, a total 17.256 carcasses belonging to 171 batches from 103 farms were inspected in an Italian abattoir between 2019 and 2022. Enzootic pneumonia (EP) like lesions were scored according to the Madec and Derrien method, while pleurisy was scored using the Italian Slaughterhouse pleuritic evaluation system (SPES). For the tail and body, the lesions were scored according to Welfare Quality. The lesion score index (LSI) was calculated for each area. Data were analysed using a general linear model (GLM) including tail caudectomy, season and distance of the farm from the abattoir. Results The warm season increased the percentage of lesions in carcasses in all parts of the body observed (P < 0.0001). The presence of undocked tail increased the LSI of the tail (P < 0.0001). The percentage of limbs lesions with score 2 and limbs LSI increase with increasing duration of transport (coef. = 0.003, P < 0.001; coef. = 0.008, P < 0.001; respectively). The hot carcass weight and the percentage of carcasses included in the PDO were higher in batches with docked tails (P = 0.027; P < 0.001, respectively), while the percentage of lean meat was higher in batches with undocked tails (P < 0.001). There was a negative correlation between the percentage of carcasses included in PDO and the LSI of tail (r = − 0.422; P < 0.001). Conclusions In conclusion, the presence of the undocked tail and the warm season can be considered risk factors for the prevalence of tail lesions, while long transport can increase limb lesions. Furthermore, the carcass weight and meat quality were negatively influenced by tail lesions.

<em>Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae</em> Serotypes by <em>Multiplex </em>PCR Identification and Evaluation of Lung Lesions in Pigs from Piedmont (Italy) Farms

“…Our study shows an underestimation of APP infections by the SPES system considering the high number of samples with a score 0, but on the contrary with positive APP identification. This study reported a different situation in pig farms caused by APP infections, in comparison with other Italian studies investigating pulmonary lesions at slaughterhouses [23,24]. Literature shows lower SPES scores (from a minimum of 0.79 to a maximum of 0.97) for the investigated carcasses, than our study reporting an average SPES value of 1.74.…”

The importance of slaughterhouses in monitoring the occurrence of tail biting in pigs - Review

“…All of these issues can result in poor health status, which may require vet intervention, lead to low quality of meat products, reduced weight gain, and even death of the affected individual. In summary, these problems can cause economic losses in both farms and slaughterhouses (Telkanranta et al 2014;Henry et al 2021;Gomes et al 2022;Amatucci et al 2023).…”