Tail biting is a damaging behaviour that impacts the welfare and health of pigs. Early detection of precursor signs of tail biting provides the opportunity to take preventive measures, thus avoiding the occurrence of the tail biting event. This study aimed to build a machine-learning algorithm for...

Scientific opinion focuses on the welfare of pigs on farm, based on literature and expert opinion

Tail biting in pigs is a harmful behavioural disorder that negatively affects their welfare. Nutrition has played a crucial role in improving farm efficiency; however, an imbalance in key nutrients is an accepted risk factor for tail biting. The exact contributing factors and the level of risk...

Inflammation and partial loss of the tail occur with high frequency in pigs and must be combated if animal welfare is to be improved. In this context, consideration of tail biting as sole explanation fails to go far enough. Inflammation and necrosis of the tail occur regularly even without the...

The aim of the study was to measure the prevalence of pleurisy, bronchopneumonia (enzootic pneumonia like lesions) and lesions on tail and body of pigs through the inspection in Italian abattoirs. Additionally, as secondary aim, the effect of tail docking and season on prevalence of pleurisy,...

The legislation in force provides that tail docking is not a routine operation. Since the phenomenon of tail biting is very often unpredictable given that its expression is conditioned by various factors, fattening pigs with intact tails can increase the risk of injury to the tail. Since tail...

Change in the frequency of contact between pigs within a group may be indicative of a change in the physiological or health status of one or more pigs within a group, or indicative of the occurrence of abnormal behaviour, e.g. tail-biting. Here, we developed a novel framework that detects and...

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Societal interest in all aspects of sustainability has increased. Therefore, pig farmers need to be aware of their strengths and weaknesses in all dimensions of sustainability: economy, environment, social wellbeing, and animal health and welfare. Our aim was to describe and critically discuss the...