Dl4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 11,1981
Ask the mb
t VMD ** Hi
Leon Riegel
Bitting nails over tails
A reader asks:
Last February I put hogs in my
new confinement building for the
first time. Since I’m a purebred
breeder, I don’t cut tails on my
pigs. This Fall I’ve had a problem
with tail biting and infection.
I’ve tried throwing tires, chains,
etc, in the pens, but the only thing
that seems to work is moving them
to my old barn where the pens are
bedded. Any suggestions? Right
now I have more pigs in my old
bam than in my new confinement
building.
Dr. Trayer comments:
When you have a problem
initiated by a new building such as
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this one, you need to check to see
exactly what has been changed.
One area that is often a problem
when going from an old to a new
building is a drastic space
requirement change for the
animals If you reduce the square
feet per animal there is an in
creased tendency for tail biting,
etc.
There are many tables written
which list the basic space
recommendations for pigs these
may vary depending on the source.
Some building sales represen
tatives may short cut the
recommended space requirements
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cost. In the long run, however,
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Along with adequate floor space,
you should check feeder space.
Kecommendations call for one
feeder space for each four
animals. If there is less space, a
problems may be increased
Basic recommendations are
In the 60-100 pound range, there
should be a 5 square feet of
flooring:
In the 150 pound to market
weight range, there should be 8
square feet of floor space per
animal
These space requirements vary
depending on whether the building
calls for slatted floors, whether it
is partial open-front, etc.
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pig is going to start biting tails so
he can eat.
Another thing to check is that the
ventilation system is circulating
the air properly, gases and dust
are being removed, and tem
perature variations are not
drastic. To check this out, a smoke
test of the building can be done to
see just what the ventilation
pattern is. Since yours is a fairly
new building, hopefully the ven
tilation will be in balance.
And, be sure not to let the feed
get old. If you are feeding high
moisture com, particularly in hot,
humid weather, be sure it doesn’t
become stale and rancid. Along
with that, an adequate supply of
fresh water is vital. There should
be at least one watering cup or
nipple for every 20 pigs m a pen
situation.
When there are more than 27
pigs in a pen, the normal pecking
order is in a state of flux. The pigs
cannot remember who the ‘boss
hog’ is, so they are constantly
fighting to reestablish a peek order
(dominance).
Looking at the health side of tail
biting, make sure there is no
pa
irasite problem, such as lice or
mange. These parasites can set the
stage for primarily ear biting, but
can induce tail biting.
In the farrowing room, make
sure the needle teeth are being cut
properly not shattered or with
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sharp teeth being missed.
animal with a sharp tooth can start
a ‘nice* tail biting battle. <
Individual animals with sharp
needle teeth can be identified in the
pen because these are generally
the two or three pigs doing all the
tail biting. If this situation is
evident, remove these animals
from the pen and see if the problem
is corrected.
You should also check the
adequacy of the iron supply in the
feed ration and adjust it ac
cordingly.
Since the old bam with straw
seems to be working out, it would
appear a nutritional cause is
coming into play. A feed analyse
would throw light on anj
deficiencies.
If these check points turn up
the clear, further studying of tl
situation is needed.
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