Manipulation of the Rumen Ecosystem to Support High-Performance Beef Cattle - Review -

Abstract

Standard industry practices with newborn piglets involve the removal of the young from the sow for short periods to undergo procedures such as teeth and tail clipping, iron injections and vaccination. This study was designed to assess whether the stress of teeth and tail clipping had any long-term effects on growth performance. Piglets were allocated to one of two treatments; to have their teeth and tails clipped, plus other routine husbandry practices either on day 0 or 5 postnatally. The implementation of the husbandry practices elicited an acute vocal response from all piglets irrespective of day of treatment. During the 4 hours after teeth and tail clipping on day 5, milk letdown and suckling behaviour were observed. On day 0, there was a disturbance in suckling behaviour of the litter, particularly in piglets on primiparous sows. Within four hours (or 4 suckling events) the treated piglets had resumed suckling in a manner akin to untreated controls. In contrast, on day 5 sows displayed regular letdown within hourly intervals irrespective of parity and most piglets suckled aggressively. There was no difference between treatments for growth to weaning. For liveweight gain to day 70, there was a tendency for an interaction between treatment and sex (P=0.063). This suggested that while there was no difference in female pig growth performance if they were teeth and tail clipped on day 0 or day 5, male pigs tended to perform better if teeth and tail clipping occurred on day 0 rather than day 5. Cortisol concentration on day 70 reflected these growth responses, although not significantly. The acute stress of teeth and tail clipping and associated husbandry procedures does not compromise piglet growth as long as it is performed close to birth.