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.
Handling pigs in larger group
- More manageable when working with large corridors, wide pen turns, few distractions
- Supports the flow
- Better for nursery pigs- strong herding instinct
Growing swine and human contact
- Intermittent human contact
- High fear response
- Pressure and release easier because they are more fearful and will want to move away from us
Breeding swine and human contact
= More contact with humans- not as fearful so will be often harder to move using pressure and release method)
- Good human animal relationship can be beneficial though as they will be more calm
Defensive strategy of swine
- Usually bunching
- Pigs can attack (open mouth, snorting)
Restraint of piglet
- Support belly and hold back hock; hold mouth closed to prevent biting and vocalizing
- V-board: can be used to sample blood
Restraint of medium to large pigs
- Use snare
- Avoid conducting treatment/blood draws in groups due to potential of attacks towards you or with other pigs… should instead make a breezeway or use a crate
Distraction techniques
- Use food
- Provide them with novel manipulation material ex. rope
Signs of a healthy alert pig
- bright and alert
- healthy startle response
- raise head and ears
- initial vocalization when humans enter (ripples across group)… remember extreme responses could indicate there could be poor human-animal relationship
Things to look for inside barn
- regular group activity (feeding and water)
- Body condition scores
- Pigs are paying attention to surroundings
- movement around pen at ease
- Clean pig
- Dung (firm, even consistency)
Signs of unhealthy pig
- don’t get up; abnormal posture
- dull, listless, lack of interest
- lesions/wounds
- not feeding, sunken flanks
- sunken eyes and discharge
- lame when moving
- breathing issues
- excessively hairy pigs
Abnormal posture positions
- Arched back/ rigid posture, favouring leg
- Dog sitting for long periods
- head tilting (ear infection)
Pig laying positions
Lateral
Sternal
What does the way that swine are laying indicate?
- Thermoregulation- if sternal then cold; if lateral and/or dirty than hot.
- Sickness
- Resource allocation- if not laying with group then could indicate lack of space
Pen Areas for swine
- dunging area
- feeding area
- lying area
Swine Aggression
Fighting usually occurs with unfamiliar conspecifics. Lesions occurring within 0-10 days of introduction.
Wounds on hind indicate bullying. Wounds on front indicate competition for hierarchy and resources.
Tail position in swine
Hanging tails indicate early warning for tail biting. Tail biting is multifactorial.
Most pigs have docked tails to reduce risk of biting damages
