As part of the stress response adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) is released. In other species, an increase in ACTH has been shown to result in an increase in salt appetite. The hypothesis of this study was that stressful situations increase salt appetite and therefore the pig’s attraction to blood. ACTH was injected for five days to mimic a stress response. The chewing behaviour of, and attraction to, salt- or blood-flavored tail models was studied in growing pigs following an injection of ACTH. Sixteen pigs were housed individually during the study. Half of the pigs were treated with ACTH, the other half were not. Tail models were made from sash cord, which was attached to plywood and mounted in each pen. There were three ‘tails’ per mounting: one soaked in pig blood, one soaked in salt solution (both with the same salt concentration) and one soaked in tap water. Attraction to blood does not appear to be due to the salt content in the blood. Regardless of treatment, pigs preferred to chew blood-soaked tail-models. Chewing of salt- and blood-soaked tail-models decreased for the ACTH-injected pigs. Injecting ACTH did not result in an increased salt appetite. Using ACTH to mimic a stress response needs further research. However, based on these results, the underlying cause of tail biting does not appear to be due to a stress induced salt appetite.