Behavioural observations of piglets undergoing tail docking, teeth clipping and ear notching

Abstract The behaviour of 279 newborn Large White × Landrace hybrid piglets in a Specific Pathogen Free Piggery (University of Queensland, Australia) was recorded during and after routine management practices of tail docking, ear notching and teeth clipping. The behaviours were recorded at the time of the procedure and then at 30 s intervals for 2 min after completion of the procedure. Piglets that received one or all of the procedures behaved differently ( P P The behaviours observed were often correlated with a particular procedure: tail docking caused more tail jamming and wagging; head shaking occurred most with ear notching; teeth clipping caused more teeth champing. Grunting during and in the first 60 s after the procedure was most frequent for piglets that had their tails docked. There was a high degree of individual variation within each litter for piglets undergoing the same procedure. The frequency of behaviours was greatest immediately after the procedure. The statistical differences evident in the period 0–30 s decreased over time and eventually disappeared after approximately 2 min. Restraint of the piglet appeared to be stressful in itself. However, restraint combined with a procedure resulted in an alteration of the behaviour from the basal levels shown by piglets that were only handled. This change in behaviour could indicate that routine management procedures (although transient) are stressful to the piglet and warrant investigation into ways to alleviate this distress.

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