Incidence, location and interrelationships between the sites of abscesses recorded in pigs at a bacon factory in Northern Ireland

Huey, Robert

doi:10.1136/vr.138.21.511

Cited by 66 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The percentage increase in the visibility of mild tail lesions from SS1 to SS2 was particularly high (131.4% increase). Tail lesions, particularly more serious lesions, are related to secondary conditions such as abscessation and pleuritic lesions of the lungs (Huey, 1996;Marques et al, 2012), and are associated to a greater extent with trimming of the carcass than milder lesions (Kritas and Morrison, 2007). Nonetheless, even mild tail lesions are associated with carcass condemnations and reduced carcass weights (Harley et al, 2012a and.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, abscessation, the most common cause of partial carcass condemnation in Irish pig herds (Harley et al, 2012a), is directly related to welfare lesions. For example, infections originating in the tail can spread to other body regions via the blood stream and cerebrospinal fluid (Huey, 1996), resulting in secondary abscessation. Similarly, skin lesions can lead to the spread of secondary infection (Pluym et al, 2011) and may be the source of single-site abscessation in the limbs, flank and shoulders of pigs (Huey, 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, infections originating in the tail can spread to other body regions via the blood stream and cerebrospinal fluid (Huey, 1996), resulting in secondary abscessation. Similarly, skin lesions can lead to the spread of secondary infection (Pluym et al, 2011) and may be the source of single-site abscessation in the limbs, flank and shoulders of pigs (Huey, 1996). In general, information on the cause of partial and whole carcass condemnation in pigs is limited (Garcia-Diaz and Coelho, 2014), and improved knowledge of the risk factors involved is needed if they are to be reduced.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of scalding and dehairing of pig carcasses at abattoirs on the visibility of welfare-related lesions

Teixeira

Staaveren

Hanlon

et al. 2016

Animal

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There is increasing interest in developing abattoir-based measures to assist in determining the welfare status of pigs. The primary aim of this study was to determine the most appropriate place on the slaughter line to conduct assessments of welfare-related lesions, namely apparent aggression-related skin lesions (hereafter referred to as 'skin lesions'), loin bruising and apparent tail biting damage. The study also lent itself to an assessment of the prevalence of these lesions, and the extent to which they were linked with production variables. Finishing pigs processed at two abattoirs on the Island of Ireland ( n = 1950 in abattoir A, and n = 1939 in abattoir B) were used. Data were collected over 6 days in each abattoir in July 2014. Lesion scoring took place at two points on the slaughter line: (1) at exsanguination (slaughter stage 1 (SS1)), and (2) following scalding and dehairing of carcasses (slaughter stage 2 (SS2)). At both points, each carcass was assigned a skin and tail lesion score ranging from 0 (lesion absent) to 3 or 4 (severe lesions), respectively. Loin bruising was recorded as present or absent. Differences in the percentage of pigs with observable lesions of each type were compared between SS1 and SS2 using McNemar/McNemar-Bowker tests. The associations between each lesion type, and both cold carcass weight and condemnations, were examined at batch level using Pearson's correlations. Batch was defined as the group of animals with a particular farm identification code on a given day. The overall percentage of pigs with a visible skin lesion (i.e. score > 0) decreased between SS1 and SS2 ( P < 0.001). However, the percentage of pigs with a severe skin lesion increased numerically from SS1 to SS2. The percentage of pigs with a visible tail lesion and with loin bruising also increased between SS1 and SS2 ( P < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between the percentage of carcasses that were partially condemned, and the percentage of pigs with skin lesions, tail lesions and loin bruising ( P < 0.05). In addition, as the batch-level frequency of each lesion type increased, average cold carcass weight decreased ( P < 0.001). These findings suggest that severe skin lesions, tail lesions and loin bruising are more visible on pig carcasses after they have been scalded and dehaired, and that this is when abattoir-based lesion scoring should take place. The high prevalence of all three lesion types, and the links with economically important production parameters, suggests that more research into identifying key risk factors is warranted.Keywords: animal welfare, carcass condemnation, pigs, skin lesions, tail lesions ImplicationsAnimal welfare assessment at abattoirs has several advantages over traditional farm-based assessments. However, the extent to which routine carcass processing either masks or enhances the visibility of key welfare lesions is unclear. This research has confirmed that the visibility of loin bruising and tail lesions is improved by scalding and dehairing of carcasses. Mild app...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of scalding and dehairing of pig carcasses at abattoirs on the visibility of welfare-related lesions

Teixeira

Staaveren

Hanlon

et al. 2016

Animal

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“…Most findings were histologically classified as mild. Abscesses, previously repeatedly associated with tail lesions (Elbers et al, 1992;Huey, 1996), were rare and found in the lung (one V and two TB), the diverticle of the urinary bladder (one TB) and in the tail (one V).…”

Section: Pathologymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Associations between tail damage and other pathological lesions have been reported repeatedly in slaughtered pigs (Elbers et al, 1992;Huey, 1996). This kind of material, however, only includes acute tail damage in -Present address: Department of Production Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, PO Box 66, FIN-00014 Helsinki, Finland.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health parameters in tail biters and bitten pigs in a case–control study

Munsterhjelm

Simola

Keeling

et al. 2013

Animal

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Health in relation to tail-biting behaviour was investigated on a problem farm. Quartets (n 5 16) of age-and gender-matched fattening pigs including a tail biter (TB, n 5 16), a victim (V, n 5 16), a control in the same pen (C tb , n 5 10) and a control in a pen where no tail biting was observed (C no , n 5 14) were chosen by direct behavioural observation. Haematological and clinicochemical analyses, autopsy and histological examination of 16 different tissues were carried out. Tail lesion severity was evaluated both macroscopically, on the basis of inspection, and histologically, in the sagittally cut tail. Category effects were tested using Friedman's ANOVA by Ranks, Cochran's Q or a repeated-measure GLM and, if significant, pair-wise tests were conducted using Wilcoxon Signed Ranks or McNemar's Test. The number of received tail bites correlated better with histological than with macroscopic tail lesion scoring because of deep inflammation beneath healthy skin in some cases. Most individuals had mild inflammatory lesions in internal organs suggestive of generalized activation of the immune system, and 30% of the animals were anaemic, possibly because of systemic spread of infectious agents. V had more severe respiratory organ lesions and higher serum protein concentrations than all other categories of pigs. Liver-and muscle-specific enzymes (alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and creatine kinase) differed between categories. In conclusion, most animals had signs of generalized activation of the immune system, possibly because of systemic spread of infectious agents. V pigs suffered from more severe inflammatory lesions than TB, C tb or C no . Deep infections may exist under healthy skin in the tail of bitten pigs.

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Meat inspection protocols

2014

Gracey's Meat Hygiene

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Incidence, location and interrelationships between the sites of abscesses recorded in pigs at a bacon factory in Northern Ireland

Cited by 66 publications

References 6 publications

Effects of scalding and dehairing of pig carcasses at abattoirs on the visibility of welfare-related lesions

Effects of scalding and dehairing of pig carcasses at abattoirs on the visibility of welfare-related lesions

Health parameters in tail biters and bitten pigs in a case–control study

Meat inspection protocols

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