Practical Alternatives for Managing Castration Pain in Piglets

Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre, Production by student on June 11, 2018

Castration is a procedure completed on male piglets to prevent the development of boar taint, which is an unpleasant smell and odor in pork from males. There are a couple objectives outlined in this experiment, to identify which analgesics will provide optimal pain relief to piglets, at what age castration should be performed to minimize stress and production losses in piglets, determine if the timing of drug administration affects piglets’ pain responses following castration and whether provision of oral sucrose prior to an analgesic can provide measurable benefits to pigs during the initial pain of castration. Behavioral observations were used to determine pain in castrated piglets. The effectiveness of the different analgesics was determined by the piglet’s ability to navigate a chute unaided. A decreased sensation of pain felt by the piglets corresponded to the piglet’s more quickly navigating the chute. This experiment determined that of the three analgesics used, meloxicam, ketoprofen and paracetamol, ketoprofen displayed the most positive effects. This conclusion was made due to the quicker response time for the piglets when navigating the chute. However, when comparing castrated piglets to those who had sham castrations there was no significant difference in chute navigation time.  There is no definite cause for this; however it is believed to be a result of handling stress or an additional environmental stress.

Practical Alternatives for Managing Castration Pain in Piglets – 2017

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