Greek Pig Farmers' Perceptions and Experiences of Tail Biting and Tail Docking.

ABSTRACT: Tail biting is both an important economic and a welfare problem. The primary preventive measure, almost on a routine basis throughout Europe, remains tail docking following a risk analysis. This study aimed to get insight on the perceptions of Greek pig farmers towards tail docking, intervention measures, and risk factors of tail biting, as well as opinions on pig welfare themes. Eighty-two farmers answered a questionnaire provided online and in printed form. In the case of a tail-biting outbreak, the most important intervention measure is the removal of the bitten pig (victim), while feed quality, air movements, and stocking density were ranked as the highest risk factors (p ≤ 0.05). Chains are the most common type of enrichment by 67% followed by plastic objects by 29.5%. Almost h

SUBMITTER: Kakanis M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9952019 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature