Occurence of tail and ear bite injuries in a Hungarian complex pig farm

Katalin Maros,Adrián Patyi,János Tőzsér,Natasa Fazekas

doi:10.2298/vetgl210730015m

Abstract

Abnormal oral manipulation, such as tail-, ear-, and flank-biting are among the most serious behaviour problems in modern pig husbandry. They not only affect the welfare of animals, but also have economic consequences. The prevalence of tail-, ear-, and flank-bite damage was estimated in a 1200 sow farrow-to-finish commercial farm in Hungary were pigs grouped by age. A total of 16,023 individuals were observed, of which 4,679 were housed in the batteries and 11,344 were housed in the fattening barns. In the batteries, the prevalence of tail-bitten and ear-bitten piglets in the different age groups ranged from 2.6 to 15.18%, 10.77 to 56.87%, respectively. The likelihood of tail injuries increased with the age of the animals, while the likelihood of ear injuries gradually decreased with piglet?s age. No flank injuries were observed in piglets from the batteries. In the fattening barns, the prevalence of tail and ear injuries in the different age groups was between 2.73 and 6.1%, and between 3.38 and 58.16%, respectively. Flank biting appeared only in older animals, from 156 days of age, at a much lower frequency (1.96 to 3.26%) than the other injuries studied. Some elements of the housing and feeding technology applied in this farm could enhance the occurrence of abnormal oral bite behaviour in pigs. Changing from wet to granulate feed and replacing the grid flooring with solid flooring covered with straw litter could lead to a decline in the incidence of biting.

Highlights

Abnormal oral manipulation, such as tail, ear, and flank-biting are among the most serious behaviour problems in modern pig husbandry
We scaled tail damage according to Wallgren and Lindahl (1996) while in measuring the extent of ear damage, scores were prepared after DSBS: Type 1 tail injury (Figure 1): red scars, reddish skin, fur missing, no blood Type 2 tail injury (Figure 2): open wound, fresh blood, loss of length Type 1 ear injury: reddish ear, small red spots, no skin damage Type 2 ear injury: red scars, bite spots, superficial lesions, Type 3 ear injury (Figure 3): one or more open wound, necrosis, no fresh blood Type 4 ear injury: open wound, fresh blood Flank injury: (Figure 4)
Some factors that according to the literature trigger the appearance of tail biting were present on the farm we studied, and based on our results, these factors could be behind the prevalence of this behaviour in the studied pigs

Summary

Introduction

Abnormal oral manipulation, such as tail-, ear-, and flank-biting are among the most serious behaviour problems in modern pig husbandry. The life of modern pigs has changed dramatically from that of their wild ancestors; their behavioural repertoire has not changed fundamentally over thousands of years of domestication. If some of their basic demands (e.g. foraging material, stable social environment) are not satisfied, that can lead to abnormal bite problems (Mendl, 1995; Stolba and Wood-Gush, 1989)

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Discussion

Conclusion