Tail biting in fattening pigs: Associations between frequency of tail biting and other abnormal behaviours

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.

Section: Animals and Husbandrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Animals and Husbandrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Munsterhjelm

Simola

Keeling

et al. 2013

“…Beattie et al (2005) have previously shown a correlation between ear biting and tail biting and Brunberg et al (2011) found a similar correlation, when investigating tail biting in relation to other abnormal behaviours. By dividing pigs into non-performers, low-performers and high-performers of tail biting they found that high-performers were specialised in biting behaviours, including ear biting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Behaviour of liquid-fed growing pigs provided with straw in various amounts and frequencies

Oxholm

Steinmetz

Lahrmann

et al. 2014

Straw possesses many characteristics that make it attractive to pigs and can therefore be effective in preventing negative penmate-directed behaviours. However, straw is difficult to handle in current vacuum slurry systems under most commercial conditions and can therefore only be used in limited amounts. To occupy pigs effectively, straw must remain attractive to pigs throughout the whole day; hence, have a certain degree of novelty. We investigated the penmate-directed behaviour of liquid-fed growing pigs in a production herd, assigned to five experimental treatments: 1 × 25, 1 × 50, 1 × 100, 2 × 50 and 4 × 25 g of chopped straw/pig per day, with 20 replicates of each treatment (pen was regarded as experimental unit). Behaviour was observed at two different growth stages;~40 and 80 kg live weight of the pigs. Activity and exploratory behaviour directed at penmates, straw, pen components and the slatted floor were registered continuously for 15 min of each hour during day time (0600 to 2200 h) by use of video observation of three focal pigs per pen. The pigs were active for about one-third of the day corresponding to~5 h/day. Of the active time, an average of 7% (35 min) was spent on penmate-directed behaviour. The pigs were more active and increased their straw-directed behaviour when provided with 100 g straw/pig per day compared with 25 and 50 g ( P < 0.001). However, penmate-directed behaviour was not reduced with an increased amount of straw ( P > 0.05), and there was no effect on pigs' behaviour when straw provision was increased per day ( P > 0.05). Pigs became less active and reduced their straw-directed activities when their weight increased from 40 to 80 kg live weight ( P < 0.001), but the amount of penmate-directed behaviour was similar ( P > 0.05). Further, the residual straw results indicated that perhaps a more frequent straw provision could help establish a more even level of fresh available straw during the day. However, the frequent straw provision did not occupy pigs more than one daily allocation did. In conclusion, there was no difference in penmate-directed behaviour of the pigs when given 25 or 50 g of straw/pig per day compared with 100 g of straw/pig per day, nor were there any difference when 100 g of straw/pig per day was provided more frequently.

“…Calculated chemical composition of the diets is presented in Table 1. Feed samples were taken four times during the trial from the mixing container and stored at Experimental design and selection of the experimental animals A total of 55 pigs between 26 and 83 kg liveweight (LW) were selected through behavioral observations carried out on 2 to 3 consecutive days, including a total of 742 pigs observed and using the ethogram by Brunberg et al (2011). First, the whole pen was observed two times for 30 min for 1 to 2 consecutive days after first signs of tail biting (bitten tails or tail-biting behavior) appeared in that pen.…”

Section: Management and Feedingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Jejunal morphology and blood metabolites in tail biting, victim and control pigs

Palander

Heinonen

Simpura

et al. 2013

Tail biting has several identified feeding-related risk factors. Tail biters are often said to be lighter and thinner than other pigs in the pen, possibly because of nutrition-related problems such as reduced feed intake or inability to use nutrients efficiently. This can lead to an increase in foraging behavior and tail biting. In this study, a total of 55 pigs of different ages were selected according to their tailbiting behavior (bouts/hour) and pen-feeding system to form eight experimental groups: tail-biting pigs (TB), victim pigs (V) and control pigs from a tail-biting pen (Ctb) and control pen (Cno) having either free access to feed with limited feeding space or meal feeding from a long trough. After euthanasia, a segment of jejunal cell wall was cut from 50 cm (S50) and 100 cm (S100) posterior to the bile duct. Villus height, crypt depth and villus : crypt ratio (V : C) were measured morphometrically. Blood serum concentration of minerals and plasma concentration of amino acids (AA) was determined. Villus height was greater in Cno than Ctb pigs in the proximal and mid-jejunum (P , 0.05), indicative of better ability to absorb nutrients, and increased with age in the proximal jejunum (P , 0.001). Serum mineral concentration of inorganic phosphate (P i ) and calcium (Ca) was lower in Ctb compared with Cno pigs, and that of P i in V compared with all the other pigs. Many non-essential AA were lower in pigs from tail-biting pens, and particularly in victim pigs. Free access feeding with shared feeding space was associated with lower levels of essential AA in blood than meal feeding with simultaneous feeding space. Our data suggest that being a pig in a tail-biting pen is associated with decreased jejunal villus height and blood AA levels, possibly because of depressed absorption capacity, feeding behavior or environmental stress associated with tail biting. Victim pigs had lower concentrations of AA and P i in plasma, possibly as a consequence of being bitten.