Sexual maturity as risk for development of deviant behaviours in pig production systems with entire males

Abstract

Male piglets are castrated primarily to avoid the unpleasant boar taint in meat, and additionally for the predisposition of castrates to accumulate fat and for their lower risk of developing unwanted behaviours. There are two main strategies available for withdrawing from surgical castration: one is immunocastration and the other is to raise entire male pigs or boars. Additionally, raising intact boars is more profitable because of the production of carcasses with lean meat and better feed conversion. Boars (compared to castrates) exhibit more aggressive, sexual, damaging social behaviour and reduced feeding behaviour with a lower prevalence of sickness behaviour as a result of good health and low susceptibility to chronic inflammation. In this review, the behaviours specific for boars as a result of sexual maturity are reviewed, with an overview of differences in the behaviour of surgically castrated barrows, immunocastrates and boars reared in group-housed systems. The raising of boars allows for good welfare of these animals in early life, but later, on reaching sexual maturity, the welfare of boars can be diminished because of their propensity to aggression and more mounting behaviour than castrates. Innovations in the breeding and management of boars are needed to improve their performance and to reduce welfare implications of these animals raised in social groups, and in particular to minimize deviant behaviours towards pen mates.

Udder and teat morphometry and its relationship with occurrence of intramammary infections in dairy cattle

“…Cows with undesirable shaped udders and teats are more susceptible to lesions and contamination by mastitis-causing pathogens, which increase the risk of mastitis (Singh et al, 2014). Therefore, the udder conformation traits with strong arguments can be used to improve udder health (Nakov et al, 2014). In this study, the overall frequencies of desirable (65.8%), pendulous (18.9%), goaty (7.8%), and round shaped udder (7.4%) were recorded.…”

“…In addition, animals with smaller teat are more prone to mastitis than animals with medium and large teats because the shorter teat allow microbes to move up without difficulty compared to animals with larger teat canal (Danish et al, 2018). Therefore, udder and teat conformation qualities can be used for improving udder health (Nakov et al, 2014). Somatic cells, the milk-secreting epithelial cells from the lining of the gland, are response to injury or infection (Sharma et al, 2011).…”

Influence of the Level of Sex Hormones in the Blood of Gilts on Slaughter Characteristics and Meat Quality

“…The use of immunization with the Improvac vaccine significantly reduces the occurrence of boar taint, and additionally contributes to the improvement in production effects through better use of feed, protein deposition, and increase in the meatiness index of the carcasses [1]. In some countries, most producers now abandon the surgical castration of boars, considering it to be a procedure that causes pain and discomfort and significantly reduces animal welfare [2]. In extensive breeding systems, in order to avoid pregnancy and the related sanitary problems, gilts are sterilized [3].…”

Оцінка Корів-Первісток Молочних Порід За Промірами Вимені Та Їх Використання В Індексній Селекції

“…Research studies of the udder morphological traits of cows have been proven that most of them are important and reliable conformation indicators of high productiv-Вісник Сумського національного аграрного університету Серія «Тваринництво», випуск 1 (56), 2024 ity and milk quality (Bhuiyan et al, 2004;Juozaitiene et al, 2006;Tapki et al, 2013;Akinsola et al, 2018), manufacturability (Nakov et al, 2014), duration of cow's productive use and life (Sewalem et al, 2004;Miglior et al, 2017;Ladyka et al, 2020). An equally important research area of cow's conformation will be the study of relationship between measurements (linear traits) of the udder (Berry et al, 2004;Campos et al, 2012;Khan et al, 2016) with the aim of using them in index breeding (Philipsson et al, 1994;Petrenko et al, 2005;Miglior et al, 2005).…”