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Chou JY, O'Driscoll K, D'Eath RB, et al. Multi-Step Tail Biting Outbreak Intervention Protocols for Pigs Housed on Slatted Floors. Animals (Basel). 2019;9(8)doi: 10.3390/ani9080582.
Chou, J. Y., O'Driscoll, K., D'Eath, R. B., Sandercock, D. A., & Camerlink, I. (2019). Multi-Step Tail Biting Outbreak Intervention Protocols for Pigs Housed on Slatted Floors. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 9(8), . https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080582
Chou, Jen-Yun, et al. "Multi-Step Tail Biting Outbreak Intervention Protocols for Pigs Housed on Slatted Floors." Animals : an open access journal from MDPI vol. 9,8 (2019). doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080582
Chou JY, O'Driscoll K, D'Eath RB, Sandercock DA, Camerlink I. Multi-Step Tail Biting Outbreak Intervention Protocols for Pigs Housed on Slatted Floors. Animals (Basel). 2019 Aug 20;9(8). doi: 10.3390/ani9080582. PMID: 31434257; PMCID: PMC6720717.
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Animals (Basel). 2019 Aug 20;9(8). doi: 10.3390/ani9080582.

Multi-Step Tail Biting Outbreak Intervention Protocols for Pigs Housed on Slatted Floors.

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI

Jen-Yun Chou, Keelin O'Driscoll, Rick B D'Eath, Dale A Sandercock, Irene Camerlink

Affiliations

  1. Pig Development Department, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, P61 P302 Moorepark, Ireland. [email protected].
  2. Animal & Veterinary Sciences Research Group, SRUC, Roslin Institute Building, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK. [email protected].
  3. Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK. [email protected].
  4. Pig Development Department, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, P61 P302 Moorepark, Ireland.
  5. Animal & Veterinary Sciences Research Group, SRUC, Roslin Institute Building, Easter Bush, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK.
  6. Institute of Animal Welfare Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.

PMID: 31434257 PMCID: PMC6720717 DOI: 10.3390/ani9080582

Abstract

Solutions are needed to keep pigs under commercial conditions without tail biting outbreaks (TBOs). However, as TBOs are inevitable, even in well managed farms, it is crucial to know how to manage TBOs when they occur. We evaluated the effectiveness of multi-step intervention protocols to control TBOs. Across 96 pens (1248 undocked pigs) managed on fully-slatted floors, 40 TBOs were recorded (≥3 out of 12-14 pigs with fresh tail wounds). When an outbreak was identified, either the biters or the victims were removed, or enrichment (three ropes) was added. If the intervention failed, another intervention was randomly used until all three interventions had been deployed once. Fifty percent of TBOs were controlled after one intervention, 30% after 2-3 interventions, and 20% remained uncontrolled. A high proportion of biters/victims per pen reduced intervention success more so than the type of intervention. When only one intervention was used, adding ropes was the fastest method to overcome TBOs. Removed biters and victims were successfully reintroduced within 14 days back to their home pens. In conclusion, 80% of TBOs were successfully controlled within 18.4 ± 1.7 days on average using one or multiple cost-effective intervention strategies.

Keywords: enrichment; fully slatted floor; pig; tail biting; tail docking; tail score; undocked tail; victim

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