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Animal welfare implications of surgical castration and its alternatives in pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2009

E. von Borell ,
J. Baumgartner ,
M. Giersing ,
N. Jäggin ,
A. Prunier ,
F. A. M. Tuyttens  and
S. A. Edwards
E. von Borell*
Affiliation:
Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Adam-Kuckhoff-Str. 35, D-06108 Halle, Germany
J. Baumgartner
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria
M. Giersing
Affiliation:
Department of Large Animal Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Grønnegårdsvej 8, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
N. Jäggin
Affiliation:
Horse Clinic, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, Länggassstrasse 124, CH – 3001 Berne, Switzerland
A. Prunier
Affiliation:
INRA, UMR1079 SENAH, F-35590 Saint-Gilles, France Agrocampus Ouest, UMR1079 SENAH, F-35000 Rennes, France
F. A. M. Tuyttens
Affiliation:
Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research, Animal Sciences, Section Animal Husbandry and Welfare, Scheldeweg 68, B-9090 Melle, Belgium
S. A. Edwards
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Agriculture Building, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, England, UK
*
†E-mail: eberhard.vonborell@landw.uni-halle.de
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Abstract

This paper constitutes a review on the welfare aspects of piglet castration that considers the scientific literature published after 2004. Castrating during the neonatal period (1 to 3 days of age) is clearly painful. In addition, inflammatory processes may take place at the sites of incision, thus adding further pain to the procedure. Surgical castration with general and local anaesthesia, in combination with long-term analgesia, has been shown to reduce pain but the additional handling and injection of the anaesthetic, the effectiveness and limited safety margins have to be thoroughly evaluated. Raising entire males during the whole fattening period or immunocastration of males towards the end of the fattening period are other alternatives with welfare benefits in young pigs compared to current surgical castration, but with some potential welfare drawbacks regarding handling stress and behaviour during fattening. Based on the current knowledge, it can be concluded that sperm sexing and raising entire males after genetic control of boar taint are potentially preferable alternatives to current practices, but need further research, as these methods are not yet available.

Keywords

castrationalternativespigwelfare
Type
Full Paper
Information
animal , Volume 3 , Issue 11 , November 2009 , pp. 1488 - 1496
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2009

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