Swine handling Flashcards
Why is animal handling important?
- human safety
-animal welfare - effects/cost on production
Pig senses
- Pray animals
- monocular vision 310 degrees, reduced binocular vision. Blind spot in front of face
- Good hearing; ears always moving
- Good smell; always rustling and sniffing
Typical pig behaviour
- highly social
- vocalizations
- group defensive strategies
- very curious; investigative with mouth
Pig handling tools
- Yourself (human presence and voice)
- Pig board
- Snare
- Shaker cans
- Paddles (with rattle)
- Flags
- Long arm/cape
- Electric prods
Flight Zone & Pressure and Release
Flight zone: distance at which animal feels safe
Use pressure and release strategies to move pigs within their bubble. Enter pigs flight zone will make them want to move.
Point of balance with swine
Point of balance is at shoulder in pigs.
If you are in front, will move backwards. If you are behind point of balance then pig will move forward
Group movement patterns
- Flow
- Bunch
- Circle
Flow movement pattern
- Calm pigs
- Easiest movement; giving lots of release
- attention is on herd movement
- No tools, movement is based on handler’s position and moving bubble as a whole
Bunch movement pattern
- Fear or defensive emotional state of pigs
- Kills movement
- Blocked from getting released
- Attention is on handler
- Pigs are bunched together and restrained by preventing movement. Allows for ear tagging and vaccinations
Circle pattern movement
- Fear or defensive emotional state of pigs
- Opposite direction of pressure
- Allow pig to circle out of pressure and group, and then accelerate back into group. Don’t circle pigs, let pigs circle you.
- Attention on handler
Using swine board
Board facing pigs: increases pressure
Board not facing pigs: reduces pressure
Creating a visual barrier to prevent them from exit
Calm pigs
- Attention on movement
- Ears forward in direction of movement
- Head down, no/low vocalizations- grunts
- Moving along easily
Pigs showing mild fear
- Increases attention on handler
- Head raised
- Flight zone increases
- Need to reduce pressure
Pigs showing panic
- Full attention on handler
- Flight response, strong vocalizations
- Climbing over pen mates, run through barriers, or obstacles
- Refusing to move, shutting down—highly stressed pig
Handling pigs in smaller group
- Easier to manage when working tight turns (potential for bottle necks)
- Better for large pigs (sows and boars). They aren’t as scared of humans because herd instinct isn’t as strong.