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After birth, piglets undergo procedures likely to cause stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate stress responses evoked by 2 combinations (More Stressful [all a] or Less Stressful [all b]) of alternative methods for performing 1) teeth resection: [a] clip vs. [b] grind, 2) identification: [a] ear tag vs. [b] ear notch, 3) iron administration: [a] inject vs. [b] oral, 4) castration: [a] cords cut vs. [b] cords torn, and 5) tail docking (TD): [a] cold clip vs. [b] hot clip. Ten litters of eight 2- and 3-d-old piglets were assigned to each procedure. Within each litter 1 male and 1 female piglet was assigned to 1 of 4 possible procedures: the 2 combinations, sham procedures, and sham procedures plus blood sampling. Blood was collected before processing and at 45 min, 4 h, 48 h, 1 wk, and 2 wk afterward and assayed for Cortisol and β-endorphin concentrations. Procedures were videotaped and analyzed to evaluate the time taken to perform the procedure and the number of squeals, grunts, and escape attempts. Vocalizations were analyzed to determine mean and peak frequencies and duration. Piglets were weighed before the procedure and at 24 h, 48 h, 1 wk, and 2 wk afterward. Identification, tail docking, and castration lesions were scored on a 0 to 5 scale at 24 h, 1 wk, and 2 wk postprocedure. Both combinations of methods took longer to carry out than sham procedures and resulted in more squeals, grants, and escape attempts during the procedures and higher peak frequencies of vocalizations compared with the control treatments (P < 0.05). Cortisol concentrations 45 min after processing were also higher in the 2 combination treatments than in the sham treatments (P < 0.05). Comparing between procedure treatments, the More Stressful combination of methods took longer to carry out, resulted in higher β-endorphin concentrations at 1 wk, had higher peak frequency of vocalizations, and increased ear (P < 0.05) and tail wound (Z3 <0.1) lesion scores at 1 wk than the Less Stressful combination. Growth during d 2 to 7 postprocedure was lower in More Stressful piglets than control piglets (P < 0.05) but by 2 wk, growth was unaffected. Using measures of behavior, physiology, and productivity, the More Stressful combination of procedures decreased welfare relative to the Less Stressful combination; however, both combinations decreased welfare relative to controls. The time taken to carry out the procedure would appear to be an important factor in the strength of the stress response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate stress responses evoked by 2 alternative methods for performing the following processing procedures: 1) teeth resection—clipping vs. grinding; 2) tail docking— cold vs. hot clipping; 3) identification— ear notch vs. tag; 4) iron administration— injection vs. oral; 5) castration— cords cut vs. torn. Eight to 10 litters of 8-, 2-, and 3-d-old piglets were assigned to each procedure. Within each litter, 2 piglets were assigned to 1 of 4 possible procedures: the 2 alternative methods, a sham procedure, and a sham procedure plus blood sampling. Blood was sampled before processing and at 45 mm, 4 h, 48 h, 1 wk, and 2 wk postprocedure and assayed for cortisol and ~3-endorphin. Procedures were videotaped and analyzed to evaluate the time taken to perform the procedure and the number of squeals, grunts, and escape attempts. Vocalizations were analyzed to determine mean and peak frequencies and duration. Piglets were weighed before the procedure and at 24 h, 48 h, 1 wk, and 2 wk afterward. Lesions were scored on a scale of 0 to 5 on pigs in the identification, tail docking, and castration treatments at 24 h, 1 wk, and 2 wk postprocedure. For teeth resection, grinding took longer than clipping and resulted in greater cortisol concentration overall, poorer growth rates, and longer vocalizations compared with pigs in the control treatment (P < 0.05). For tail docking, hot clipping took longer, and hot-clipped piglets grew slower than cold-clipped piglets (P < 0.05). Hot clipping also resulted in longer and higher frequency squealing compared with pigs in the control treatment (P < 0.01). For identification, ear notching took longer than tagging, and ear-notched piglets had worse wound scores than tagged piglets (P <0.05). Cortisol concentrations at 4 h also tended to be greater for ear-notched piglets (P < 0.10). Ear notching evoked calls with higher peak frequencies than the control treatments. For iron administration, oral delivery took numerically longer than injecting, but there were no significant differences between injecting and oral delivery for any of the measures. For castration, tearing took longer than cutting the cords (P < 0.05), but f3-endorphin concentrations at 45 mm postprocedure were greater for cut piglets. When measures of behavior, physiology, and productivity were used, the responses to teeth resection, tail docking, and identification were shown to be altered by the procedural method, whereas responses to iron administration and castration did not differ. The time taken to carry out the procedure would appear to be an important factor in the strength of the stress response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salbutamol has potential for use as a repartioning agent in swine. The aims of this experiment were to determine effects of salbutamol on behavior and physiology of finishing pigs. The study used 192 pigs (88.8 ± 0.9 kg of BW) housed in groups of 6 in 32 pens and assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: 1) control—0 mg/kg of salbutamol, 2) 2R—control diet with 2 mg/kg of the pure R-enantiomer of salbutamol, 3) 4R—control diet with 4 mg/kg of pure R-salbutamol, or 4) 8RS—control diet with 8 mg/kg of a 50:50 mixture of the R- and S-enantiomers. All diets were offered ad libitum for 4 wk. Salbutamol diets were replaced with control diets 24 to 48 h before slaughter. Behavioral responses to handling during weighing were recorded immediately before assignment to the treatments (wk 0) and at weekly intervals over the next 4-wk period. Behavioral and heart rate (HR) responses to a 10-min human presence test in the home pen were measured during wk 0, wk 1, and wk 3. Heart rate responses to a 36-min transportation were recorded. One pig from each pen had blood collected 4 times: during wk 0, 2, 4, and at exsanguination. Blood was analyzed for NEFA, creatine kinase, glucose, lactate, blood urea nitrogen, ammonia, insulin, cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. Data were analyzed using PROC GLM of SAS, with pen as the experimental unit. Treatment had no effect on time spent lying laterally, overall activity, or time spent alert. Treatment had no effect on handling measures (P> 0.05) or on behavioral responses to human presence (P> 0.05), with all pigs willing to spend similar amounts of time close to and touch- ing the human. However, during the human presence test in wk 1 and wk 3, control pigs had HR around 10 peats per minute less (P < 0.05) than pigs in the other 3 treatments. During transport, overall HR were similar across treatments (P> 0.05). However, at certain 1-min time points, control pigs had greater HR than salbutamol-treated pigs (P < 0.05). There were no treatment differences in lactate, epinephrine, or norepinephrine concentrations at any point. During wk 4, control pigs had less creatine kinase (P < 0.02) and greater blood urea nitrogen (P< 0.005) compared with pigs fed all the salbutamol treatments. The home pen behavior, handling, human presence test, and transport results indicate that salbutamol-treated pigs do not show marked differences in home pen time budgets and behavioral and HR responses to handling and transportation compared with control pigs. Thus, salbutamol did not have a negative effect on finishing pig well-being during this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pig processing procedures can cause distress to pigs. Alternatives exist for each procedure, thus our objective was to compare a combination of five different procedures. Least aversive procedures compared to the most aversive procedures were determined by previous research. Comparisons were made between processing pigs with the 'most' aversive methods (Most): teeth grinding, tail docking with a hot iron, oral administration of iron, ear notching, and castration with cord tearing, as compared to the 'least' aversive methods (Least): teeth clipping, tail docking with a cold iron, injection of iron, ear tagging, and castration with cord cutting. Two control groups were included, one which was blood sampled (Control) and another that served merely as a behavioral control and was not blood sampled or processed but was handled. A total of 8 pigs from each of 10 litters were used - one male and one female pig per treatment. Body weights were recorded prior to bleeding, at 24 h, 1 wk and 2 wk relative to application of treatments and blood was collected at 0 h, .75 h, 4 h, 48 h, 1 wk, and 2 wk in order to measure plasma cortisol. Behavioral data were collected to record escape attempts, squeals, and grunts. Body weight did not differ between treatments (P > 0.10). Females did not differ in their plasma cortisol response to processing (P > 0.10). In contrast, male pigs in both the Most and Least treatments exhibited elevated plasma cortisol at .75 h after processing as compared to Control pigs (P < 0.0001). Pigs in the Most treatment performed more squeals as compared to the Least (P < 0.01) and the two control treatments (P < 0.001). Pigs in the Least treatment performed more squeals than in the two control treatments (P < 0.07). However, when adjusted for the amount of time required to perform the two treatments, no treatment differences were noted (P > 0.10). These data indicate that both the Most and Least processing approaches reported in this study result robust stress responses as measured by plasma cortisol. In addition, the time required to perform procedures contributes significantly to the stress experienced by the pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]