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Pig Journal Volume: 66
Publication date: December 2011

Topical Symposium - Tail Biting and Tail Docking

TAIL BITING IN PIGS: THE PREVALENCE AT SIX UK ABATTOIRS AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF TAIL BITING WITH DOCKING, SEX AND OTHER CARCASS DAMAGE
E.J. HUNTER, T.A. JONES, H.J. GUISE, R.H.C. PENNY, S. HOSTE

Abstract
The prevalence of tail biting at six UK abattoirs and its relationship with tail docking, sex, carcass damage and ear damage was investigated between August-October 1997. A week was spent at each abattoir, and 62,971 pigs were examined.On average (n=6) 80.9% of pigs had docked tails (range 70.7 - 90.9%).A mean of 3.1% of docked and 9.2% of long-tailed pigs showed evidence of tail biting. Mean levels of severe biting (score 3) were low (0.1% of docked and 0.5% of long-tailed pigs) but these figures may be an underestimate as pigs with severely bitten tails are sometimes slaughtered locally. At abattoirs two, four and six, docked pigs were less likely than long-tailed pigs to have bitten tails (p<0.001). At abattoirs one and three fewer docked pigs had mild tail damage (p<0.001) but there was no difference in severe cases. At abattoir five, there was no effect of docking on levels of tail biting. When the data was analysed as a binary variable (bitten or not bitten) the odds of a docked pig being not bitten were 2.73 times better than the odds of a long-tailed pig. The mean percentage (n=6) of tail bitten gilts was 3.4% (range 1.8 - 6.9%) and for males was 4.6%(range 2.6 - 7.2%). The odds of a male pig being not bitten were 0.70 times worse than the odds for a female pig. With the exception of abattoir three, where pigs had very low levels of ear damage, pigs with bitten tails had significantly higher levels of ear damage than those with unbitten tails. A mean of 12.5% of tail-bitten pigs had damaged ears (n=6, range 0 - 21.4%). The corresponding mean for pigs without bitten tails was 5.5% (range 0.4 - 9.4%, p<0.001). Tail bitten pigs also had higher levels of other carcass damage than those with unbitten tails (p<0.001). Docked pigs had more damaged carcasses than long-tailed pigs and fewer slightly damaged carcasses (p<0.001) but there was no difference at more severe carcass damage scores. Testing for a linear trend between carcass damage and tail biting in docked and long-tailed pigs separately, showed that there was a stronger association between carcass damage and tail biting in pigs with docked tails. Overall docked pigs had higher levels of ear damage (p<0.05), but this was not the case at abattoirs two and five where long-tailed pigs had higher levels (p<0.001).

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