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dc.contributor.authorChou, Jen-Yun
dc.contributor.authorO'Driscoll, Keelin
dc.contributor.authorSandercock, Dale A.
dc.contributor.authorD’Eath, Rick B.
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-27T14:36:22Z
dc.date.available2021-07-27T14:36:22Z
dc.date.issued2020-10-30
dc.identifier.citationChou J-Y, O’Driscoll K, Sandercock DA, D’Eath RB (2020) Can increased dietary fibre level and a single enrichment device reduce the risk of tail biting in undocked growing-finishing pigs in fully slatted systems? PLoS ONE 15(10): e0241619. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0241619en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11019/2518
dc.descriptionpeer-revieweden_US
dc.description.abstractThis study evaluated the effectiveness of combined dietary and enrichment strategies to manage tail biting in pigs with intact tails in a conventional fully-slatted floor housing system. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design was used. Pigs had either a high fibre (weaner 5.3% and finisher 11.6% of crude fibre) or standard fibre diet (weaner 3.7% and finisher 5.9% of crude fibre). In the weaner stage, pigs had either a spruce wooden post (supplied in a wall-mounted dispenser) or a rubber floor toy as a enrichment device, and in the finisher stage, they had either the same or alternate enrichment item. Six hundred and seventy-two pigs were assigned to 48 pens of 14 pigs and followed from weaning until slaughter. Individual tail lesion scores and pen level behaviours were directly recorded every 2 weeks. Twenty-six pens had tail biting outbreaks and 161 injured pigs needed removal for treatment. Pigs fed with the high fibre diet performed more tail biting (p < 0.05) and tended to have a worse tail damage scores than those fed the standard fibre diet (p = 0.08). Pigs which had the floor toy as weaners and wood as finishers tended to have fewer tail lesions in the finisher stage than their counterparts (p = 0.06). Pigs receiving the floor toy as enrichment interacted with the enrichment more frequently overall (p < 0.001) and performed fewer harmful behaviours in the weaner stage (p < 0.05). Overall, higher fibre in the diet in a relatively barren environment did not help reduce tail biting or tail lesions. Altering the fibre level in the pigs’ diet and providing a single enrichment device to undocked pigs on fully slatted floors resulted in a high level of tail biting and a large proportion of pigs with partial tail amputation.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipTeagasc
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherPublic Library of Science (PLoS)en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesPLOS ONE;
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/*
dc.subjectincreased dietary fibreen_US
dc.subjectenrichment devicesen_US
dc.subjecttail bitingen_US
dc.subjectgrowing-finishing pigsen_US
dc.subjectfully slatted systemsen_US
dc.titleCan increased dietary fibre level and a single enrichment device reduce the risk of tail biting in undocked growing-finishing pigs in fully slatted systems?en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241619
dc.contributor.sponsorTeagasc Walsh Fellowship Programmeen_US
dc.contributor.sponsorScotland’s Rural Collegeen_US
dc.contributor.sponsorDepartment of Agriculture, Food and the Marineen_US
dc.source.volume15
dc.source.issue10
dc.source.beginpagee0241619
refterms.dateFOA2021-07-27T14:36:23Z
dc.source.journaltitlePLOS ONE


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