Abstract
Tail biting is a common problem in modern pig production and has a negative impact on both animal welfare and economic result of the farm. Tail biting risk is increased by management and housing practices that fail to meet the basic needs of pigs. Tail docking is commonly used to reduce the risk of tail biting, but tail docking in itself is a welfare problem, as it causes pain to the pigs, and facilitates suboptimal production methods from a welfare point-of-view. When evaluating the cost and benefit of tail docking, it is important to consider negative impacts of both tail docking and tail biting. It is also essential to realize that even though 100% of the pigs are normally docked, only a minority will end up bitten, even in the worst case. In addition, data suggests that tail biting can be managed to an acceptable level even without tail docking, by correcting the production system to better meet the basic needs of the pigs.
Highlights
Tail biting, which is an abnormal behaviour in the domestic pig, is a common problem within the pig industry worldwide
Even though tail docking can reduce the risk of tail biting, the negative consequences of tail docking cannot be ignored
Available data indicate that tail biting can be managed to an acceptable level, maybe even to a comparable level, even when tail docking is not used
Summary
Tail biting, which is an abnormal behaviour in the domestic pig, is a common problem within the pig industry worldwide. Tail biting has been identified by farmers as the one of the main welfare problems in pig production [1]. Tail biting is a serious welfare and economical issue, and it is of great importance to minimize the problem. Tail docking does not solve the problem of tail biting totally, and in itself induces pain to the docked pigs [5]. As suboptimal housing and management are well known risk factors for tail biting [6], docking the tail only serves to alleviate the symptom of reduced welfare. Tail docking facilitates a production method where the underlying problem itself can be partly ignored and pigs can be managed in environment taking less in consideration their real needs
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