Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:39:21.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Stress measures in tail biters and bitten pigs in a matched case-control study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

C Munsterhjelm ,
E Brunberg ,
M Heinonen ,
L Keeling  and
A Valros
C Munsterhjelm*
Affiliation:
PB 57, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
E Brunberg
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
M Heinonen
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Production Animal Medicine, Helsinki, Finland
L Keeling
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
A Valros
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Production Animal Medicine, Helsinki, Finland
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: camilla.munsterhjelm@helsinki.fi
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This study aimed to identify differences in stress measures in pigs (Sus scrofa) with different roles during a tail-biting outbreak. Quartets (n = 16) of age- and gender-matched fattening pigs including a tail biter (TB; n = 16), a victim (V; n = 16), a control in the same pen (Ctb; n = 10), and one in a pen without tail biting (Cno; n = 14) were chosen by direct behavioural observation. Stress measures used were behaviour (dog-sitting, sniffing of pen-mates and aggression), thyroid hormone concentration, morphology of adrenal and thyroid glands and salivary cortisol concentration sampled at 0700, 1000, 1600 and 1900h. Category (TB, V, Ctb, Cno) effects were investigated using a mixed model with replicate as subject and category as repeated effect. Category had a significant effect on adrenal total (cortex + medulla) and cortical area, salivary cortisol at 1900h, serum triiodothyronine (T3) and the behaviours performing and receiving sniffing. Victims suffered from a triad of chronic stress, pathology and suppressed T3 secretion. Evidence for stress in tail biters, a possible cause of the behaviour, consisted of a slightly flattened day-time cortisol pattern and more performed sniffing than all other categories. Differences in evening cortisol concentration and T3 levels between the categories in the pen with ongoing tail biting emphasise the qualities of the control animal. It supports the view that neutral pigs represent a phenotype that adopts a coping strategy leading to lower stress levels than in tail biters and victims, despite being housed in the same pen.

Keywords

adrenalanimal welfareinjurious behaviourphysiologyswinethyroid
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , August 2013 , pp. 331 - 338
Copyright
© 2013 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Barnett, JL, Cronin, GM and Winfield, CG 1981 The effects of individual and group penning of pigs on total and free plasma corticosteroids and the maximum corticosteroid binding capacity. General and Comparative Endocrinology 44(2): 219–225. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0016-6480(81)90251-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Becker, BA, Nienaber, JA, DeShazer, JA and Hahn, GL 1985 Effect of transportation on cortisol concentrations and on the circadian rhythm of cortisol in gilts. American Journal of Veterinary Research 46: 1457–1459Google ScholarPubMed
Bianco, AC, Nunes, MT, Hell, NS and Maciel, RMB 1987 The role of glucocorticoids in the stress-induced reduction of extrathyroidal 3,5,39-triiodothyronine generation in rats. Endocrinology 120: 1033–1038. http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/endo-120-3-1033CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bottoms, GD, Roesel, OF, Rausch, FD and Akins, EL 1972 Circadian variation in plasma cortisol and corticosterone in pigs and mares. American Journal of Veterinary Research 33: 785–790Google ScholarPubMed
Broom, DM 1996 A review of animal welfare measurement in pigs. Pig News and Information 17: 109–114Google Scholar
Broom, DM and Johnson, KC 1993 Stress and Animal Welfare. Chapman and Hall: London, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunberg, E 2011 Tail biting and feather pecking: using genomics and ethology to explore motivational backgrounds. PhD Thesis, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, SwedenGoogle Scholar
Brunberg, E, Jensen, P, Isaksson, A and Keeling, LJ 2013 Brain gene expression differences are associated with abnormal tail biting behavior in pigs. Genes, Brain and Behavior 12(2): 275–281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gbb.12002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brunberg, E, Wallenbeck, A and Keeling, LJ 2011 Tail biting in fattening pigs: associations between frequency of tail biting and other abnormal behaviours. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 133: 18–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2011.04.019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burchfield, SR, Woods, SC and Elich, MS 1980 Pituitary adreno-cortical response to chronic intermittent stress. Physiology & Behavior 24: 297–302. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(80)90090-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, NJ, Schaefer, AL, Lepage, P and Morgan Jones, S 1996 Salivary vs serum cortisol for the assessment of adrenal activity in swine. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 76: 329–335. http://dx.doi.org/10.4141/cjas96-049CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, MS 2004 Using behaviour to assess animal welfare. Animal Welfare 13: 3–7Google Scholar
De Groot, LJ 1999 Dangerous dogmas in medicine: the non-thyroidal illness syndrome. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 84(1): 151–164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jc.84.1.151CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong, IC, Prelle, IT, van de Burgwal, JA, Lambooij, E, Korte, SM, Blokhuis, HJ and Koolhaas, JM 2000 Effects of environmental enrichment on behavioural responses to novelty, learning, and memory, and the circadian rhythm in cortisol in growing pigs. Physiology & Behavior 68: 571–578. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(99)00212-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Weerth, C, Zijl, RH and Buitelaar, JK 2003 Development of cortisol circadian rhythm in infancy. Early Human Development 73: 39–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-3782(03)00074-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donaldson, TM, Newberry, RC, Spinka, M and Cloutier, S 2002 Effects of early play experience on play behaviour of piglets after weaning. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 79(3): 221–231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(02)00138-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, SA 2006 Tail biting in pigs: understanding the intractable problem. The Veterinary Journal 171: 367–369. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2005.04.010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gunnar, MR and Vazquez, DM 2001 Low cortisol and a flattening of expected daytime rhythm: potential indices of risk in human development. Development and Psychopathology 13: 515–538. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954579401003066CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, ARC, Fang, SL, Vagenakis, AG and Braverman, LE 1978 Effect of starvation, nutriment replacement, and hypothyroidism on in vitro hepatic T4 to T3 conversion in the rat. Metabolism 27: 1680–1690. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0026-0495(78)90290-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hart, BL 1988 Biological basis of the behavior of sick animals. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 12: 123–137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0149-7634(88)80004-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herman, JP, Adams, D and Prewitt, C 1995 Regulatory changes in neuroendocrine stress-integrative circuitry produced by a variable stress paradigm. Neuroendocrinology 61: 180–190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000126839CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ingram, DL, Dauncey, MJ, Barrand, MA and Callingham, BA 1980 Variations in plasma catecholamines in the young pig in response to extremes of ambient temperature compared with exercise and feeding. In: Usdin, E, Kvetnansky, R and Kopin, IJ (eds) Catecholamines and Stress pp 273–278. Elsevier North Holland: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Janssens, CJ, Helmond, FA and Wiegant, VM 1995 Chronic stress and pituitary-adrenocortical responses to corticotropin-releasing hormone and vasopressin in female pigs. European Journal of Endocrinology 132: 479–486. http://dx.doi.org/10.1530/eje.0.1320479CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kumar, V, Abul, KA, Aster, JC and Nelson, FN 2010 Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease 8th Edition pp 43–78. Saunders: Philadelphia, PA, USAGoogle Scholar
Moberg, GP 1985 Animal Stress pp 245–267, 774-790. Williams & Wilkins: Baltimore, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munsterhjelm, C, Simola, O, Keeling, L, Valros, A and Heinonen, M 2013 Health parameters in tail biters and bitten pigs in a case-control study. Animal 7(5): 814–821. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1751731112002194CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munsterhjelm, C, Valros, A, Heinonen, M, Hälli, O, Siljander-Rasi, H and Peltoniemi, OAT 2010 Environmental enrichment in early life affects cortisol patterns in growing pigs. Animal 4(2): 242–249. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1751731109990814CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nicoloff, JT, Fisher, DA and Appleman, MD Jr 1970 The role of glucocorticoids in the regulation of thyroid function in man. Journal of Clinical Investigation 49: 1922–1929. http://dx.doi.org/10.1172/JCI106411CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oliviero, C, Heinonen, M, Valros, A, Hälli, O and Peltoniemi, O 2008 Effect of the environment on the physiology of the sow during late pregnancy, farrowing and early lactation. Animal Reproduction Science 105(3-4): 365–377. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2007.03.015CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palander, PA, Heinonen, M, Simpura, I, Edwards, SA and Valros, AE Jejunal morphology and blood metabolites in tail biting, victim and control pigs. SubmittedGoogle Scholar
Radostits, OM, Blood, DC and Gay, CC 1994 Veterinary Medicine: A Textbook of the Diseases of Cattle, Sheep, Pigs, Goats and Horses, 8th edition pp 60–63. Baillière Tindall: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Salak-Johnson, JL and McGlone, JJ 2007 Making sense of apparently conflicting data: stress and immunity in swine and cattle. Journal of Animal Science 85: 81–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas.2006-538CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salzen, EA 1991 On the nature of emotion. International Journal of Comparative Psychology 5(2): 47–88Google Scholar
Sapolsky, RM, Romero, LM and Munck, AU 2000 How do glucocorticoids influence stress responses? Integrating permissive, suppressive, stimulatory, and preparative actions. Endocrine Reviews 21: 55–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/er.21.1.55Google ScholarPubMed
Schrøder-Peterson, DL and Simonsen, HB 2001 Tail biting in pigs. The Veterinary Journal 162: 196–210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/tvjl.2001.0605CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selye, H 1975 Stress and distress. Comprehensive Therapy 8: 9–13Google Scholar
Squires, EJ 2003 Applied Animal Endocrinology. CAB International: UK. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/9780851995946.0000CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallenbeck, A and Keeling, LJ 2013 Using data from electronic feeders on visit frequency and feed consumption to indicate tail biting outbreaks in commercial pig production. Journal of Animal Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas.2012-5848CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiepkema, PR and Koolhaas, JM 1993 Stress and animal welfare. Animal Welfare 2: 195–218Google Scholar
Zupan, M, Janczak, AM, Framstad, T and Zanella, AJ 2012 The effect of biting tails and having tails bitten in pigs. Physiology & Behavior 106: 638–644. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phys-beh.2012.04.025CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed