Practical handling skills during road transport of fattening pigs from farm to slaughterhouse: A brief review

The transport of fattening pigs is characterized by a strong human-animal interaction. Consequent handling is important because of animal welfare, meat quality and matching economic consequences. During road transport, human impact can be divided in different steps: 1) driving pigs from the pens via an alley to the trailer, 2) loading, 3) actual transport, 4) unloading to the lairage, and 5) the final phase driving pigs to the stunning. An inadequate design and a poor condition of the facilities will negatively affect the ease of handling pigs. Because of the consequences, acute stress during transport and slaughter should be minimized by acting on the education of people, on equipment and on preparation of animals for the journey. Education programs have to be repeated regularly so that knowledge can be refreshed

Practical handling skills during road transport of fattening pigs from farm to slaughterhouse: A brief review

The transport of fattening pigs is characterized by a strong human-animal interaction. Consequent handling is important because of animal welfare, meat quality and matching economic consequences. During road transport, human impact can be divided in different steps: 1) driving pigs from the pens via an alley to the trailer, 2) loading, 3) actual transport, 4) unloading to the lairage, and 5) the final phase driving pigs to the stunning. An inadequate design and a poor condition of the facilities will negatively affect the ease of handling pigs. Because of the consequences, acute stress during transport and slaughter should be minimized by acting on the education of people, on equipment and on preparation of animals for the journey. Education programs have to be repeated regularly so that knowledge can be refreshed

Reducing/adjusting painful management practices in piglets: an attempt to improve animal welfare and zootechnical results

In the pig industry, farmers always strive for optimal productions results. In order to obtain these results, they carry out several management practices on piglets like tail docking (to avoid tail biting; routinely prohibited), teeth shortening (to avoid wounding to the udder of the sow or to litter mates; routinely prohibited), castration of male piglets (to avoid boar taint), All these procedures are however considered to be painful and therefore can also influence animal welfare and zootechnical results of the piglets. The aim of this thesis was to study the effects of reducing or adjusting these painful management practices on piglet welfare and zootechnical results. In the society of today, animal welfare is gaining consumers interest and concern. Piglet castration is a sensitive issue that has drawn the attention of the public as a result of animal welfare organizations campaigns. Therefore it is important to know consumers opinion on this topic. For that reason the opinion of Flemish consumers on unanesthetized piglet castration, and three possible alternatives is reported in the second chapter. A total of 2018 people, spread over the 5 provinces, were questioned. The results showed that in spite of several media campaigns of animal welfare organizations over the past few years, still about half of the Flemish respondents were not aware of the problem of unanesthetized piglet castration. However, after being informed, the majority wanted unanesthetized castration to be banned. Although the concern about animal welfare implications was very high, the willingness to pay extra for alternatives was low, which might prevent the return of investment for the farmers since production costs will increase. Results of the second chapter demonstrated that castration under anesthesia was the most accepted alternative by Flemish consumers. Therefore castration under carbon dioxide (CO2) anesthesia was compared to unanesthetized castration in the third chapter. No behavioral differences were found in piglets treated with CO2-anesthesia or zolazepam, tiletamine (Zoletil®) and xylazine (Xyl-M®), which is an indication that CO2 matches the anesthetic properties of the combination of Zoletil® and Xyl-M®. In the main experiment, observed differences in behavior were not conclusive. However, a difference in interactive behavior indicated a better state of welfare for the CO2-anesthetized castrated piglets compared to the unanesthetized castrated piglets. On the other hand, all barrows, including the anesthetized group, displayed behaviors indicative of pain or discomfort. Therefore, piglets may need to be provided with additional analgesia to eliminate the pain caused by castration even if they are anesthetized prior to castration. Castration is not the only event that may threaten piglets welfare. As mentioned before, piglets are subjected to several painful management practices, especially during their first week of life. In order to improve overall welfare, not only castration has to be dealt with, but painful management procedures in general. In the fourth chapter it was therefore investigated if reducing painful interventions during the first week of life resulted in better zootechnical performance of the piglets, reduced piglet mortality and if the overall welfare, indicated by behavioral criteria, was improved. In 22 litters, all piglets were weighed after birth. The four lightest piglets of each litter of the experimental group were not subjected to tail docking or teeth shortening, the other procedures (castration for the male piglets, iron injection, vaccination, ear tagging) were carried out as normal. The four lightest piglets of each litter of the control group did have their tails docked and teeth shortened, next to the other management procedures. All procedures were applied on the heavier piglets of both the control and the experimental group.The lightest piglets seemed to show less pain related behavior when their teeth and tail were left intact. Moreover, mortality rate tended to be lower when compared with the lightest piglets of the control group but further research specified on neonatal mortality would be useful. The objectives of the previous two chapters, reducing painful procedures and using anesthesia during these procedures, were combined in the fifth chapter. Two experiments, using 41 litters, were carried out. In the first experiment, all procedures were performed on one moment in time in the experimental group while in the control group procedures were carried out as normal (spread over the first week of life). In the second experiment, bundling of the procedures without anesthesia was compared to bundling the procedures after the animals were anesthetized with CO2. Piglets seemed to cope better with pain if painful interventions were not combined. Moreover, the applied CO2-anesthesia had facilitated the pain experience after treatment, since lying, interactive and walking behavior indicated more discomfort for the anesthetized piglets. Anesthetized piglets had only an advantage when considering nursing behavior. Although the beneficial effect of anesthesia during painful procedures is not really confirmed by the results, these results should be interpreted as a delayed pain experience for anesthetized piglets rather than an additional pain experience. As already found in chapter one CO2-anesthesia relieves the pain during the procedure, but not after the anesthesia has wore of. The post-operative pain may have been present in both treatments, but the absent pain experience during the procedures for piglets of the anesthetized group can still be interpreted as advantageous to piglet welfare. The results of this thesis showed that public awareness on piglet castration was still low. On the other hand, when respondents were informed, they felt the need for alternatives was high. Castration under anesthesia was the most accepted alternative but willingness to pay an extra price to improve piglet welfare was low. Reducing painful procedures (tail docking and teeth clipping) improved animal welfare and survival rate to a certain extent. Adjusting the painful procedures by using CO2-anesthesia and/or bundling all procedures on one moment in time did not give clear results. Bundling of the procedures without anesthesia did not seem to benefit the piglets. Anesthesia with CO2 provides anesthesia and analgesia on the moment of the procedure, which improves animal welfare, but it wears off quickly resulting in postoperative pain. Further research could be useful to optimize the procedure, e.g. by providing additional analgesia for the postoperative pain.SUMMARY I SAMENVATTING VII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS XIII CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 SOCIETAL SITUATION OF THE PROBLEM 3 PAIN: SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION THROUGHOUT SPECIES 4 Definition of pain 4 Consequences of pain 5 PAINFUL PROCEDURES IN PIGLETS: REASON, METHOD AND EFFECTS 6 Castration 6 Tail docking 11 Teeth clipping/grinding 13 Iron injection 16 Vaccination 17 Ear tagging (identification) 17 ETHICAL REFLECTIONS ON PAINFUL PROCEDURES 18 AVOIDING PAIN VIA ANESTHETICS: UNDERLYING MECHANISMS AND ALTERNATIVES 19 Underlying mechanisms of pain 19 Anesthetics 21 Local anesthesia 22 General anesthesia 23 Underlying mechanisms of anesthetic techniques 25 ANALGESIA 27 IMMUNOCASTRATION 27 RAISING ENTIRE MALES 29 MEASURING PAIN: GOLD STANDARD, HOW TO DETECT PAIN IN FARMED ANIMALS? 29 Behavior 30 Vocalization 32 Zootechnical results (feed conversion, growth rate, sickness sensitivity) 33 Physiological and biochemical parameters 33 ANIMAL INTEGRITY 33 AIM AND OUTLINE OF THE THESIS 34 CHAPTER 2: BELGIAN CONSUMERS’ OPINION ON PORK CONSUMPTION CONCERNING ALTERNATIVES FOR UNANESTHETIZED PIGLET CASTRATION 37 ABSTRACT 39 INTRODUCTION 39 MATERIALS AND METHODS 40 Research approach and sampling 40 Questionnaire 42 Statistical analysis 44 RESULTS 44 Awareness 44 Need for alternatives 45 Acceptability of alternatives 46 Preference 48 Willingness to pay extra 49 DISCUSSION 50 Awareness 51 Acceptability of alternatives and preference 52 Willingness to pay extra 53 CONCLUSION 53 CHAPTER 3: BEHAVIOR OF PIGLETS AFTER CASTRATION WITH AND WITHOUT CO2-ANESTHESIA 55 ABSTRACT 57 INTRODUCTION 57 MATERIALS AND METHODS 59 Animals and Housing 59 Experimental procedure 60 Behavioral Observations 61 Statistical Analysis 63 RESULTS 64 Preliminary experiment 64 Main experiment 65 DISCUSSION 70 Preliminary experiment 70 Main experiment 71 CONCLUSION 73 CHAPTER 4: IMPROVING SURVIVAL, GROWTH RATE AND ANIMAL WELFARE IN PIGLETS BY AVOIDING TEETH SHORTENING AND TAIL DOCKING? 75 ABSTRACT 77 INTRODUCTION 77 MATERIALS AND METHODS 78 Animals and Housing 78 Experimental procedure 78 Behavioral Observations 80 Statistical Analysis 80 RESULTS 81 Behavior from birth to weaning (4 weeks) 81 Growth rate 81 Comparison of weight at weaning 83 Mortality rate 83 DISCUSSION 84 Behavior from birth to weaning (4 weeks) 84 Growth rate 85 Comparison of weight at weaning 85 Survival rate 85 CONCLUSION 86 CHAPTER 5: PAINFUL STANDARD MANAGEMENT PRACTICES WITH PIGLETS: DOES BUNDLING AND/OR ANESTHESIA IMPROVE ANIMAL WELFARE? 87 ABSTRACT 89 INTRODUCTION 89 MATERIAL AND METHODS 90 Animals and Housing 90 Experimental design 90 Behavioral observations 91 Statistical Analysis 91 RESULTS 93 Experiment 1 93 Experiment 2 95 DISCUSSION 96 Experiment 1 96 Experiment 2 98 CONCLUSION 100 CHAPTER 6: GENERAL DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND PERSPECTIVES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 101 APPENDIX 111 CITED REFERENCES 117 LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 133nrpages: 162status: publishe

Effects of Transport and Lairage on the Skin Damage of Pig Carcasses

Transport and associated handling can have adverse effects on pig welfare. The transport of fattening pigs can cause economic losses by virtue of mortality, skin damage, and the general deterioration of meat quality. A total of 4507 fattening pigs were transported from a farm to a commercial slaughterhouse (distance 110 km) in 128 transports. Skin damage was visually assessed in the slaughter line in different parts of the carcass, i.e., shoulder, middle, and ham, using a 4-point scale. The incidence of skin damage was most prevalent (31%) in the shoulder region of the pig carcass. Sex, wind velocity, regrouping, transport combination, transport compartment, lairage time, and ham angle affected the skin damage incidence. In conclusion, scoring the incidence of skin damage is an indicator of the level of welfare exercised during transport and the slaughterhouse conditions. Furthermore, skin damage monitoring can be used to determine critical control points in the transport procedure. Given the importance from both a commercial and welfare perspective, it should be a powerful incentive to handle fattening pigs with care during the transport process and the lairage period.status: publishe

The Impact of Grouping on Skin Lesions and Meat Quality of Pig Carcasses

In practice, unfamiliar pigs are frequently mixed prior to loading in order to obtain groups ofuniformweightandtoadjustthegroupsizetothedimensionsofthetrailercompartments. Mixing pigs induces aggressive interactions to establish a new social rank. Fighting results in skin lesions and pre-slaughter stress and, in turn, reduced meat quality. A study was performed to compare the effect of non-regrouping and regrouping at fattening (at 80 kg and kept till slaughter), loading and lairage. Atotalof1332pigswereincludedover30transportsfromonepigfarmtooneslaughterhouse (110 km). Skin lesions were determined on 1314 carcasses. Meat quality was measured on 620 pigs. The non-regrouped pigs had fewer skin lesions and better meat quality than the pigs regrouped at loading or in lairage. Pigs mixed at 80 kg at the farm had, in general, a comparable amount of skin lesions and comparable meat quality as the non-mixed group. If mixing is unavoidable, due to large within-group weight variations, mixing at 80 kg can be an alternative to reduce skin lesions at slaughter and to optimise meat quality.status: publishe

Practical handling skills during road transport of fattening pigs from farm to slaughterhouse: A brief review

The transport of fattening pigs is characterized by a strong human-animal interaction. Consequent handling is important because of animal welfare, meat quality and matching economic consequences. During road transport, human impact can be divided in different steps: 1) driving pigs from the pens via an alley to the trailer, 2) loading, 3) actual transport, 4) unloading to the lairage, and 5) the final phase driving pigs to the stunning. An inadequate design and a poor condition of the facilities will negatively affect the ease of handling pigs. Because of the consequences, acute stress during transport and slaughter should be minimized by acting on the education of people, on equipment and on preparation of animals for the journey. Education programs have to be repeated regularly so that knowledge can be refreshed

The association between sow and piglet behavior

Sows in modern pig industry are often housed individually in farrowing crates a few days before farrowing until weaning. These farrowing crates limit movements of the sow and therefore also limit them in expressing their behavior. These limitations may lead to distress with the sow and can result in stereotypical behaviors. Because it is possible that the general behavior of the mother sow also influences her piglets, the hypothesis of the present study was that there is an association between the general behavior of sows and the behavior of their piglets. Our results showed that there was indeed an association between the postures and activities of sows and the behavior of their piglets, not only for nursing–suckling behavior. Results also indicated that piglets prefer resting when sows are resting. When sows were standing up, piglets were running around more. Although there were indications that piglets were more at ease when sows were bar biting compared with when they were sham chewing, a specific relationship between sow stereotypical behavior and piglet behavior could not be demonstrated in the present study. Though, it should be taken in mind that relatively low frequencies of stereotypical behaviors were observed. Furthermore, it could be that not only the prevalence of a specific stereotypical behavior is important but also a specific threshold of that specific behavior should be exceeded to induce effects on the suckling piglets. Alternatively piglets could coinduce stereotypical behavior of the mother sow.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: The association between sow and piglet behavior journaltitle: Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2014.01.005 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Practical handling skills during road transport of fattening pigs from farm to slaughterhouse: A brief review

The transport of fattening pigs is characterized by a strong human-animal interaction. Conse-quent handling is important because of animal welfare, meat quality and matching economic consequences. During road transport, human impact can be divided in different steps: 1) driving pigs from the pens via an alley to the trailer, 2) loading, 3) actual transport, 4) unload-ing to the lairage, and 5) the final phase driving pigs to the stunning. An inadequate design and a poor condition of the facilities will negatively affect the ease of handling pigs. Because of the consequences, acute stress during transport and slaughter should be minimized by acting on the education of people, on equipment and on preparation of animals for the journey. Educa-tion programs have to be repeated regularly so that knowledge can be refreshed.status: publishe

Tail docking in lambs: Tail characteristics, (contra)indications, legislation and alternative management measures

Although tail docking in female lambs is still performed in Belgian fi eld conditions, the effectiveness of docking and hence the necessity of that procedure are questioned. Tail docking in lambs is a cosmetic treatment rather than a treatment to prevent myiasis. In order to limit myiasis in sheep, the focus must be adjusted. The aim of this article is to discuss tail docking in lambs and to focus on alternatives, which may or may not be immediately implementable. In this view, veterinarians can advise farmers to take more effective management measures to reduce myiasis. Frequent monitoring of the animals, limiting the contamination of the hindquarters, the preventive use of antiparasitic products, shear management and fly traps are important tools for this purpose.status: publishe

The use of different objects during a Novel Object Test in stabled horses

Novel object tests are often used to evaluate a horse's temperament by recording fear responses toward an unfamiliar object, but they might also be used as a part of welfare assessment. Various objects are used during these tests. This study aims to verify the use of different objects during a novel object test performed in the horse's stall. To this end, 54 horses and 4 objects (red-white striped cone [RWCONE]; a red-yellow plastic ball [BALL]; a black open umbrella [UMBR]; black-yellow striped cone [BYCONE]) were selected. To verify associations between behavior during the novel object test and undisturbed behavior at stable, baseline behavior profiling (4 × 10 minutes, spread over 4 days) was carried out. Thereafter, novel object tests were performed. Each object was presented for 10 minutes to the horses in their stalls, spread over 4 consecutive days. Each horse was exposed to the 4 objects in a semirandom order. The results reveal a higher frequency of object-related behavior in the presence of the umbrella (P = 0.0005), which might be caused by the color and the size of the object. No differences in object-related behaviors were found between the 2 cones which were colored differently. The age of the horse must be taken into account, as younger horses showed more pronounced reactions to the objects. When feed is available, horses showed less contact with the object, as they are not inclined to explore their environment. Sniffing behavior toward the object positively correlates with specific features of housing (large stall, visual and physical contact with other horses). A higher frequency of fear reactions to the objects is associated with more vocalizations during undisturbed behavior observations, which might be indicative of stress. The results show that associations between behavior during the novel object test and behavior at stable were present. However, the presence of roughage influences the horse's reaction and should be taken into account. In this case, the focus should be on the presence of fear reactions, such as rearing, not approaching the object or defecating, to correctly determine the animal's welfare state.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: The use of different objects during a novel object test in stabled horses journaltitle: Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2014.09.002 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.status: publishe