Evaluating environmental enrichment as a method to alleviate pain after castration and tail docking in pigs

John McGlone; Brittany Backus

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2018.04.009

Evaluating environmental enrichment as a method to alleviate pain after castration and tail docking in pigs

John McGlone, Brittany Backus

Animal and Food Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Abstract Castration and tail docking are common management practices performed on commercial swine farms in the US and around the world to reduce adverse behaviors and the occurrence of boar taint. However, these practices themselves are a welfare concern for the piglet because they cause acute pain. The provisions of environmental enrichment (EE) may reduce anxiety, protect from stressors, influence pain sensitivity, and improve the overall welfare of animals. Our objective was to determine if EE can reduce the physiological and behavioral stress response caused by castration and tail docking in piglets over time. Sows were randomly assigned to control farrowing stalls (CON; n = 9) or stalls enriched (ENRICH; n = 9) with newspaper, soil, ball and rope, so that EE was available to piglets upon birth. At 5 days old, ENRICH and CON piglets (n = 54 per treatment) were allocated to one of six piglet husbandry treatments; four boar piglets were randomly allocated to one of four treatments:

Original language	English
Journal	Applied Animal Behaviour Science
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2018.04.009
State	Published - Apr 17 2018

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title = "Evaluating environmental enrichment as a method to alleviate pain after castration and tail docking in pigs",

abstract = "Abstract Castration and tail docking are common management practices performed on commercial swine farms in the US and around the world to reduce adverse behaviors and the occurrence of boar taint. However, these practices themselves are a welfare concern for the piglet because they cause acute pain. The provisions of environmental enrichment (EE) may reduce anxiety, protect from stressors, influence pain sensitivity, and improve the overall welfare of animals. Our objective was to determine if EE can reduce the physiological and behavioral stress response caused by castration and tail docking in piglets over time. Sows were randomly assigned to control farrowing stalls (CON; n = 9) or stalls enriched (ENRICH; n = 9) with newspaper, soil, ball and rope, so that EE was available to piglets upon birth. At 5 days old, ENRICH and CON piglets (n = 54 per treatment) were allocated to one of six piglet husbandry treatments; four boar piglets were randomly allocated to one of four treatments:",

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AU - Backus, Brittany

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N2 - Abstract Castration and tail docking are common management practices performed on commercial swine farms in the US and around the world to reduce adverse behaviors and the occurrence of boar taint. However, these practices themselves are a welfare concern for the piglet because they cause acute pain. The provisions of environmental enrichment (EE) may reduce anxiety, protect from stressors, influence pain sensitivity, and improve the overall welfare of animals. Our objective was to determine if EE can reduce the physiological and behavioral stress response caused by castration and tail docking in piglets over time. Sows were randomly assigned to control farrowing stalls (CON; n = 9) or stalls enriched (ENRICH; n = 9) with newspaper, soil, ball and rope, so that EE was available to piglets upon birth. At 5 days old, ENRICH and CON piglets (n = 54 per treatment) were allocated to one of six piglet husbandry treatments; four boar piglets were randomly allocated to one of four treatments:

AB - Abstract Castration and tail docking are common management practices performed on commercial swine farms in the US and around the world to reduce adverse behaviors and the occurrence of boar taint. However, these practices themselves are a welfare concern for the piglet because they cause acute pain. The provisions of environmental enrichment (EE) may reduce anxiety, protect from stressors, influence pain sensitivity, and improve the overall welfare of animals. Our objective was to determine if EE can reduce the physiological and behavioral stress response caused by castration and tail docking in piglets over time. Sows were randomly assigned to control farrowing stalls (CON; n = 9) or stalls enriched (ENRICH; n = 9) with newspaper, soil, ball and rope, so that EE was available to piglets upon birth. At 5 days old, ENRICH and CON piglets (n = 54 per treatment) were allocated to one of six piglet husbandry treatments; four boar piglets were randomly allocated to one of four treatments:

U2 - 10.1016/j.applanim.2018.04.009

DO - 10.1016/j.applanim.2018.04.009

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