The effect of biting tails and having tails bitten in pigs
Abstract
Tail-biting is a behavioral abnormality which compromises the welfare of pigs. The goal of this study was to characterize the tail-biting phenotype using behavior and measures of heart-rate (HR) and its variability (HRV) in pigs. Thirty pigs were categorized as tail-biters (n=10), tail-bite victims (n=10), and control pigs (n=10) based on the frequency of tail-biting behavior that they performed or received at the farm. The animals' behavioral responses were registered at the experimental facilities for 10 min during test sessions whereas physiological responses were registered for 10 min prior to (basal) and during sessions when subjected to a novel object test (NOT) and to a novel arena test (NAT). Phenotypes differed in most behaviors during the two tests and in the NOT their physiological responses suggested different regulation of vagal tone. Biters had a reduction from baseline values to values during testing for the root mean square of successive R-R intervals (RMSSD) and the high-frequency band (HF) compared to victims, whose RMSSD and HF increased from baseline to test values. In the low-frequency band (LF), an increase was shown in biters and controls while a decrease in victims. LF was found to be strongly positively...Continue Reading
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