Abstract
In order to evaluate at the slaughterhouse external carcass lesions on heavy pigs (170 kg) as potential welfare indicators, and the prevalence of ham defects determining ham exclusion from Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) markets, 732 pig batches from northern Italy were monitored during a 12-month period, and then processed analysing the effect of slaughter season, overnight lairage, and production type. On the slaughter line, skin scratches were separately scored in the posterior region (defined as the area including the hind legs and the tail) and the anterior one (as the remaining area), while the whole carcass was examined for external hematomas. Chronic ear and tail lesions referable to the rearing phase, and bursitis were recorded as retrospective welfare indicators. The annual median prevalence of carcasses per batch with severe anterior scratches was 64% while 46.4% had severe posterior scratches. The highest autumn score for both skin scratches (P < 0.001) and traumatic ham defects (P = 0.005) is reflected in the positive correlation between severe posterior scratches and ham hematomas (r2 = 0.27; P < 0.001). Overnight lairage batches resulted in higher prevalence for scratches, while among ham defects only veining increased. Among binary records, only ear lesions were frequently recorded (annual median = 10%). A comparison analysis between pigs in and out of PDO circuit was performed to evaluate the variation related to the different genetics, showing differences for ear and tail lesions and for almost all the considered ham defects. The present study confirms that skin lesions represent a problem also for heavy pigs and that overnight lairage and season can affect their prevalence, with the associated possibility to give ham defects. Ear lesions are suitable to be used as retrospective welfare indicator, while tail lesions usage is nowadays limited by the extensive use of tail docking.
Highlights
Abattoir veterinary inspection has the main function of ensuring food safety, but scoring of visceral lesions can be a useful tool for animal health monitoring and a source of data for epidemiological investigation [1,2,3]
The aim of this work was to describe the frequency of different external lesions, which are suitable to be used as welfare indicators, during slaughtering procedures of 170 kg live weight pigs, and the prevalence of ham defects detected on the day after slaughter, considering the effects of season, overnight lairage and animal type
The study involved 648 batches of Italian heavy pigs destined to Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) production and 84 batches of non-PDO, resulting in about 64,800 Italian heavy pigs destined to PDO and 8,400 heavy pigs out of the circuit, from 267 intensive fattening farms located in the North of Italy, with no different prescriptions for facilities between the two different production types
Summary
Abattoir veterinary inspection has the main function of ensuring food safety, but scoring of visceral lesions (e.g. lungs, pleura, liver and stomach) can be a useful tool for animal health monitoring and a source of data for epidemiological investigation [1,2,3]. Monitoring of skin and tail lesions in pigs at the slaughterhouse has been proven to be a useful tool for the assessment of health and welfare on farm, highlighting their potential use as iceberg indicators [4], which had already been suggested for use as warning signals for welfare problems [5] In this regard, abattoir inspections could contribute to enhance pig welfare standards by providing feedback to the farmer, who can adopt appropriate interventions to improve on-farm prevention of these lesions, reducing losses through lower rates of carcass condemnations, trimming and downgrading [6]. These prescriptions in genetics, final body weight and cycle length should result in any case in a minimum requirement for thickness of visible cover fat on the thigh (20 mm for thighs up to 9 kg, and 30 mm for those over 9 kg), which is essential for PDO ham processing
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