Update on Tail biting in pigs: An undesirable damaging behaviour

Abstract

Tail-biting is an abnormal behavior of multifactorial origin, that consists a major problem in modern pig industry. It has a serious impact on both welfare and health status of the pigs involved, as well as on economic profitability of the farm. It is considered to be a problem of pig adaptation in poor environment triggered by a plethora of external and internal risk factors interacting with each other. A great variation exists on prevalence of tail biting between different studies across the world. Tail docking is the common practice applied by farmers to prevent this behavior, while treatments are based on enrichment material provision. The aim of this review is to explore the most recent literature on risk factors and impacts of tail biting and to discuss promising areas on early prediction and treatment of the topic.