TY - JOUR

T1 - Effects of an intensified human-animal interaction on tail biting in pigs during the rearing period

AU - Buettner, Kathrin

AU - Czycholl, Irena

AU - Basler, Heidi

AU - Krieter, Joachim

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Tail biting in pigs is a serious welfare problem with multifactorial causes. Several risk factors are described in the literature ranging from environmental factors including stocking densities, deficiencies in feed quality or accessibility, to internal factors such as poor health status, genetics or sex. Also, the human-animal relationship can have an effect on behaviour and performance of the animals. Thus, the aim of the current study was to evaluate whether intensified human-animal interaction in the rearing period can reduce the occurrence of tail biting in weaned piglets. For this, two treatment groups were established. The trial group differed only in intensified human-animal interaction (e.g. calm speech, petting, food provision) from the control group, which was carried out three times a week by one person for 15 min in each pen. Once a week the animals' tails were scored regarding tail lesions and losses and a human approach test was performed. The intensified human-animal interaction influenced the animals' behaviour towards the human as well as towards their pen mates. The trial group showed significantly better results compared with the control group, i.e. fewer tail lesions and more animals with intact tails. Also, the results of the human approach test in the trial group showed a lower latency to approach compared with the control group. Thus, integration of an intensified human-animal interaction into the daily practice of pig farms could be one possibility for enhancing the human-animal relationship and reducing occurrence of tail biting.

AB - Tail biting in pigs is a serious welfare problem with multifactorial causes. Several risk factors are described in the literature ranging from environmental factors including stocking densities, deficiencies in feed quality or accessibility, to internal factors such as poor health status, genetics or sex. Also, the human-animal relationship can have an effect on behaviour and performance of the animals. Thus, the aim of the current study was to evaluate whether intensified human-animal interaction in the rearing period can reduce the occurrence of tail biting in weaned piglets. For this, two treatment groups were established. The trial group differed only in intensified human-animal interaction (e.g. calm speech, petting, food provision) from the control group, which was carried out three times a week by one person for 15 min in each pen. Once a week the animals' tails were scored regarding tail lesions and losses and a human approach test was performed. The intensified human-animal interaction influenced the animals' behaviour towards the human as well as towards their pen mates. The trial group showed significantly better results compared with the control group, i.e. fewer tail lesions and more animals with intact tails. Also, the results of the human approach test in the trial group showed a lower latency to approach compared with the control group. Thus, integration of an intensified human-animal interaction into the daily practice of pig farms could be one possibility for enhancing the human-animal relationship and reducing occurrence of tail biting.

KW - Animal welfare

KW - intensified human-animal interaction

KW - pig

KW - tail biting

KW - DECISION-SUPPORT-SYSTEM

KW - SEMANTIC MODEL

KW - RISK-FACTORS

KW - BEHAVIOR

KW - PIGLETS

KW - FEAR

KW - PERFORMANCE

KW - GENDER

KW - FEMALE

KW - STRAW

U2 - 10.1017/S002185961800103X

DO - 10.1017/S002185961800103X

M3 - Journal article

VL - 156

SP - 1039

EP - 1046

JO - Journal of Agricultural Science

JF - Journal of Agricultural Science

SN - 0021-8596

IS - 8

ER -