Department of Population Medicine (Henry, O'Sullivan, Niel, Friendship), Department of Animal Bioscience (Shoveller) University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
Can Vet J. 2022 Aug;63(8):835-840.
This case study describes a severe tail-biting event on a multi-site swine operation in Ontario and outlines the management strategies implemented in an attempt to control the problem. An established social order was clearly present before the tail-biting event occurred. Over 40% of tail-docked pigs in 3 of 8 grower-finisher barns were severely affected, leading to higher mortality and increased numbers of pigs re-housed in hospital pens. Environmental factors, management practices, and animal health in the barns experiencing the tail-biting event are described, including detection of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol in corn at > 2 ppm. Changes implemented in response to tail-biting included altering the phase-feeding schedule, adding enrichment devices, and increasing surveillance. The subsequent cohort of pigs was followed through the finisher barns and did not engage in the same severity or prevalence of tail-biting as the previous cohort of pigs which experienced the tail-biting event. Key clinical message: No single factor was identified as the initiating cause for the severe tail-biting event. The subsequent cohort of pigs in 4 barns of the same operation were monitored for tail-biting from entry until market, and the incidence of tail-biting was very low.
本病例研究描述了安大略省一个多地点养猪场发生的严重咬尾事件，并概述了为控制该问题而实施的管理策略。在发生咬尾事件之前，显然存在既定的社会秩序。在 8 个生长-育肥舍中的 3 个中，超过 40%的断尾猪受到严重影响，导致死亡率更高，更多的猪被重新安置在医院围栏中。描述了发生咬尾事件的畜舍中的环境因素、管理实践和动物健康情况，包括在玉米中检测到超过 2 ppm 的霉菌毒素脱氧雪腐镰刀菌烯醇。针对咬尾现象实施的改变包括改变分阶段饲养计划、添加丰容设备和增加监测。随后的一批猪在育肥舍中进行了跟踪，并没有像之前经历过咬尾事件的那批猪那样出现同样严重或普遍的咬尾现象。主要临床信息：没有一个单一因素被确定为严重咬尾事件的引发原因。同一操作的 4 个畜舍中的随后一批猪从进入到市场一直被监测咬尾情况，咬尾的发生率非常低。
