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The pig producer's perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

J. Guise
J. Guise*
Affiliation:
Cambac Research, Manor Farm, Draycot Cerne, Nr Chippenham SN15 5LD
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Abstract

This paper is designed to demonstrate that practical, applied research, which is popular with the farming community, is an important part of the decision-making process. Three recent or current projects are described in areas where strategic and basic science has made an important contribution to the debate but has not provided solutions. Confinement at farrowing, tail biting and fully slatted finishing systems are all areas of concern to producers and legislators alike and these concerns are not confined to the UK. The results of surveys of industrial practice have suggested that: (a) non-confined systems may perform as well as farrowing crates, (b) tail-docking appears an effective control measure for tail biting but more importantly, the relative influence of different management practices is measurable using the techniques described and could provide solutions to the tail-biting problem, and (c) experimental studies of finishing systems have produced ambivalent results and a new approach may be of value. The recent Scientific Veterinary Committee Report of the European Union is used extensively as the basis for the discussion.

Type
Research Article
Information
BSAP Occasional Publication , Volume 23: Farm animal welfare — who writes the rulse? , January 1999 , pp. 1 - 5
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1999

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