January 16, 2008

EU sees increased pig tail-biting triggered by poor living conditions

The EU animal health and welfare panel said that increased tail-biting behavior among pigs can be a manifestation of poor living conditions for intensively farmed pigs.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) explained that the behavior could have been stimulated by the absence of straw, slatted floors and a barren environment.

The authority published a recent review on the European legislation on minimum standards for the protection of pigs. It also released reports on housing and husbandry practices for adult breeding boars, pregnant and farrowing sows and unweaned piglets, and fattening pigs.

The European commission requested for the assessment of risks associated with tail-biting in pigs, and possible ways to reduce the need for tail-docking through different housing and husbandry systems.

The EFSA concluded that tail-docking can reduce the frequency of tail-biting under common intensive farming conditions, but does not completely eliminate the problem under unfavourable conditions.

More research was recommended to look into the difference in the amount of tail-biting in docked and undocked pig populations in different housing systems, the severity and duration of chronic pain and the effect of genetic, environmental, age and sex differences on the occurrence of tail-biting.