Indeed in many of the large pig-producing countries, over 95% of commercial pigs' tails are docked ( 2, 3). However, increasing feeder space was not a management strategy that could ensure reduced tail biting on commercial pig farms.ĭespite Council Directive 2008/120/EC banning routine tail docking of piglets, the practice continues to be widespread within the European pig sector ( 1). These data suggest that doubling space at the feeder to two spaces/12 pigs reduced aggression and displacement behaviors at the feeder, indicating less competition for food.
Pigs in DOUBLE had worse tail lesion scores on 6 of the 9 recording days ( P 0.05), the FCR was lower in DOUBLE than in SINGLE ( P < 0.05). There was no effect of treatment on damaging behaviors. Individual body weight was recorded at weaning, transfer, and slaughter, and feed delivery was recorded daily at the pen level from these measurements, average daily gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were calculated. The duration of feeder occupancy, feed space occupancy, number of and duration of feeding bouts, and aggressive behavior at the feeder were recorded continuously from video recordings (two times while in the weaner stage and two times while in the finisher stage, one camera/pen 1 h per occasion). In addition, the pigs were individually assessed every 2 weeks for ear, tail, and flank injuries using a 4-point scale. Every 2 weeks, interaction with the enrichment, aggressive, harmful, and play behaviors were recorded for 5 min, four times a day. Pens were equipped with a rack of fresh grass and a rubber toy (weaning phase) or a wooden board (finishing phase). This work compared the behavior and performance of 24 groups of 12 pigs kept in pens with either a DOUBLE or SINGLE (WALL only) spaced feeder, from weaning until slaughter.
2UCD Veterinary Sciences Centre, University College Dublin Belfield, Dublin, Ireland.1Pig Development Department, Teagasc, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Ireland.Roberta Maria D'Alessio 1,2 * Alison Hanlon 2 Keelin O'Driscoll 1
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