Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
12.2
Handlings of suckling piglets
Numerous husbandry practices are routinely applied to very young piglets. They comprise
surgical castration in males, tail docking, teeth clipping, iron injection, ear notching,
tagging or tattooing in both sexes. Moreover, piglets are often handled at birth, especially
in farms where farrowing is supervised, with the aim of decreasing neonatal mortality.
All these procedures may have an impact on the piglets but also on the sows as they react
to handling of their progeny.
12.2.1
Impact of painful husbandry practises on suckling piglets
Shortly after birth, piglets may be handled for removal of placental envelopes and mucous
from the nose and mouth, for drying with paper towels or 'cotton, for placing them at the
mammary gland or under the heat lamp. Such handling generally improves the survival
rate of piglets even though the positive effect of drying is questionable (Andersen
et al.,
2009; Holyoake
et al.,
1995; Kirkden
et al.,
2013). Such practices, especially drying, may
be aversive for the piglets and hence may influence their subsequent behaviour. To our
knowledge, there is no data in pigs to substantiate this hypothesis, but data in foals have
shown that prolonged aversive handling just after birth (restriction and maintenance in a
recumbent position, exposure to novel tactile stimuli) modified the way foals responded
to a stressor when they were adult (Durier
et al.,
2012).
Tooth resection of the superior and inferior canines and of corner incisors (8 teeth
in total) is very common in conventional farms (Fredriksen
et al.,
2009). It is usually
performed within a few days after birth, together with other routine practises such
as iron injection, tail docking and sometimes castration. It is carried out by clipping
teeth with pliers or grinding them with a rotary grindstone. Tail docking is also very
common except in some countries where it is restricted by regulation (Fredriksen
et
al.,
2009). Tail docking is carried out with scalpels, scissors/wire cutters or by cautery
with a hot iron. The proportion of the tail that is removed by docking is variable: from
only the tip of the tail to up to ¾ of the tail or more. Ear tattooing, ear notching (V-cut
performed with a notcher) or ear tagging (plastic tag applied with an applicator) are
quite common in farms rearing pigs for reproduction in order to identify them. Iron
administration is systematic in conventional farms. It can be performed by oral route or
by intramuscular injection. Surgical castration of male pigs is very common although its
application varies a lot between countries (Fredriksen
et al.,
2009) and is highly debated,
at least in European countries. It is usually performed during the first days or weeks of
postnatal life. Some pig producers carry out castration at birth or the day after, together
with tail docking, iron injection and teeth resection. One or two incisions of the scrotum
are realized with a sharp scalpel or scissor. Each testicle is freed from surrounding tissue,
externalized and removed either by cutting or pulling/tearing the spermatic cord. In
order to perform any of those husbandry practises, it is needed to catch the piglet and
to force it to stay immobile. Such handling is in itself stressful for the piglets and induces
vocalizations as well as defence movements (Marchant-Forde
et al.,
2009; Torrey
et al.,
2009; Weary
et al.,
1998a).
