Finnish welfare competence exported to European pig farms
Pig tail-docking has been banned completely in Finland since 2002.
Page 32 of articles about behaviour-welfare
EC welcomes practical EU guidelines to assess fitness of pigs for transport
Practical EU guidelines to assess the fitness of pigs for transport written by leading EU agri-food, veterinary, road transport, and animal welfare stakeholder groups, have been welcomed by the European Commission.
Enrichment material to prevent tail-biting
To prevent tail biting, animals must be able to express their exploratory behaviour in an appropriate manner. This article presents the points to consider when choosing the most appropriate material.
Behaviour of fattening pigs fed with liquid feed and dry feed
Pigs performed equivalent in both systems, but from an animal welfare view we recommend dry feed to growing pigs.
OIE: World animal health on the agenda of the European Parliament’s Commission for Agriculture
The issue of animal welfare was the subject of much debate.
UK: FAWC favours movement in the pig industry towards free farrowing systems
The industry and other stakeholders should continue to explore ways to encourage up take of free farrowing systems.
Chinese veterinarians draft farm animal welfare standard
Chinese veterinarians have started drafting the country's first welfare standard for the farming and slaughter of livestock and poultry.
The relationship between selected physiological post-mortem measures and an overall pig welfare assessment from farm to slaughter
Physiological post-mortem measures may, after the development of technological solutions for implementation at abattoirs, be used in daily operations as on-site tools for systematic monitoring of welfare.
Comparison of meat quality parameters in surgical castrated versus vaccinated against gonadotrophin-releasing factor male and female Iberian pigs reared in free-ranging conditions
Vaccination in females did not alter carcass and meat quality, and specific interests should consider reproductive behavior in free-range conditions.
Confinement of sows for different periods during lactation: effects on behaviour and lesions of sows and performance of piglets
Loose-housing of lactating gilts after a reduced postnatal crating period of 7 days affected neither the activity level of the gilts and lesions on the integument nor pre-weaning mortality. Therefore, it is recommended to allow sows to move around to some extent during the later lactation period.
Germany at the forefront of animal welfare
Given that animal welfare is a priority for the Ministry, they have now launched a new web portal (www.tierwohl-staerken.de).
The piglet's basic requirements: real welfare
Bearing welfare in mind, which should be the size of the group of animals housed in a pen?
Multi-litter housing: development of piglets and growing and finishing pigs
Pre-weaning mortality (especially crushing by the sow) is higher in piglets raised in a multi-litter (ML) system until 9 weeks of age than in piglets raised in a single-litter (SL) system.
Heat Stress Management Strategies on Farm
This article summarizes the main points to beat heat stress in pigs.