Abstract: Managing Pigs with Intact Tails by Giving Them a Daily Portion of Alfalfa

Type and Average of Pigs on the Farm

The farm maintains approximately 300 sows and 8,000–8,200 grower-finishers per year, with 630–640 per batch.

Farming System

Intensive production system.

Description and Evaluation of the Good Practice

Four years ago the farmer sought a practical solution to prevent tail biting in the first long-tailed pigs on the farm. An initial approach using dispensers to distribute straw proved partially effective but posed a risk of clogging the slurry pits. Two years ago the farmer switched to dehydrated alfalfa: a generous handful per pen is now distributed daily via a floor-mounted dispenser. Approximately six 20 kg bales are used for 600 piglets, which allows effective management of the 30% of pigs with long tails without any severe tail-biting cases. The farmer identifies three key success factors: dehydrated alfalfa as a sub-optimal enrichment that keeps pigs occupied, constant vigilance to ensure permanent access to feed, and a flawless barn environment with effective management of stray electrical currents.

Farm Context

• Environmental Enrichment A metal chain is attached to the wall, and a floor-mounted dispenser with a reservoir distributes a generous handful of dehydrated alfalfa per pen daily. No bedding material is used as the flooring is plastic slatted.
• Pigs Tail docking rate is 30%; intact-tailed and docked pigs are mixed in the same pens.
• Housing and Management Characteristics Stocking density is 0.35–0.38 m²/pig with 20 or 30 pigs per pen. The flooring is plastic slatted with a slurry pit, and ventilation is upper-level extraction with an air inlet deflector. Lighting consists of natural light supplemented with artificial lighting. No outdoor access is provided. Pigs are fed from dry feeders with a 1.40 m-long feeder per 20 piglets, using a commercial complete diet. Water is provided via 2 drinkers per pen in a linked circuit, with an outlet valve flushed for 1 minute every 4 hours.
• Management Practices Small piglets and piglets from gilts are housed in separate pens; the remaining pigs are mixed. Pigs are monitored daily before feeding. The tail biting intervention protocol, in order of priority if blood is present, is: apply wound treatment; add alfalfa; add burlap; isolate the animal.
• Economic Analysis The farm receives an added value of €0.04/kg for slaughtered long-tailed pigs.
• Environmental Analysis Nothing to report on this aspect.
• Replicable Benefits and Relevance for Other EU Countries This solution is suitable for slatted-floor barns, the most common housing system in Europe, and is easy to implement in practice.