Instant Insights: Improving the Welfare of Growing and Finishing Pigs

This book reviews four peer-reviewed studies on improving the welfare of growing and finishing pigs, covering animal behaviour, nutrition management, physical and social environments, transport, handling, and slaughter practices, and best practices for general management. It highlights the importance of addressing substandard herd management to prevent outbreaks of respiratory or digestive diseases, ulcers, lameness, prolapses, tail biting, and other conditions.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 124 pages
Publication date: 27 August 2024
Publisher: Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing Limited

This book presents four peer-reviewed reviews on enhancing the welfare of growing and finishing pigs. The first chapter establishes the concept of animal welfare within the context of pig production, examining the behavior of pigs and how it is influenced by intensive production systems, group size, living conditions, and health and care monitoring systems. The second chapter explores the relationship between nutrition management and physical and social environments on the welfare of finishing pigs, highlighting the use of environmental enrichment as a means of reducing aggressive behavior such as tail biting. The third chapter provides a comprehensive overview of recent research findings on the effects of transport, handling, and slaughter practices on the behavioral and physiological responses of pigs, including their impact on carcass and meat quality. The final chapter discusses best practices for optimizing the general management of growing finishing pigs to improve overall herd health, addressing the consequences of substandard herd management and the increased risk of respiratory or digestive diseases, ulcers, lameness, prolapses, tail biting, and other conditions.

Weight: 178g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 7 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781801466714