How a Spanish enrichment system reduces tail biting in pigs

A rotating system of chains which moves hanging pig enrichment material from one pen to another is helping keep tail biting at bay on a Spanish pig farm.

At Rosa Centellas-Vilaseca’s pig finishing unit in Catalonia, there is less than 1% incidence of tail biting with most pigs arriving on the farm at 8-10 weeks old having already been tail docked.

This year, Ms Centellas-Vilaseca is expecting to receive most of her pigs with intact tails, as a response to EU pressure to move away from routine tail-docking.

See also: 4 early signs of tail biting to watch for on pig farms

Rosa Centellas-Vilaseca adds straw to a pen

The concrete slatted finishing shed, which houses 616 pigs in pens of 12, has a chain-driven system attached to the roof. Enrichment materials include pieces of wood, balls, straw containers, plastic rings and hemp rope.

One of two “play room” pens

Four extra pens have also been introduced which pigs access once a week.

These include two “playroom pens” which contain a combination of pig enrichment, and two “deep straw” pens allowing the pigs to root. The straw in the deep straw pens is changed every week.

Some of the objects used in the rotating system

The chain driven system rotates the different enrichment materials into each pen on a daily basis. The materials are cleaned between batches and, if necessary, within a batch. 

It is a system Ms Centellas-Vilaseca devised herself in order to promote the sense of novelty for her fattening pigs.

Although she has no data to compare production before and after the system was installed, she believes it has improved the feed conversion ratio (FCR) by reducing stress in the pigs.

The farm belongs to an assurance quality scheme in the Avinyó region called Porc Ral d’Avinyó and of all the farms supplying the scheme Ms Centellas-Vilaseca has the best FCR – with diets and genetics the same on the other farms.

Mortality is also down at 1% compared with an average of 2.2% across the other farms.

System costs

Setting up the system cost about €6,000 (£5,250), with the ongoing cost for materials about €600 a year and maintenance at €50. The farm produces its own straw which helps keep costs manageable.

An electric motor drives the chain which changes objects in each pen daily

The labour requirement for moving pigs into the play pens and deep straw pens, as well as cleaning any materials, equates to an extra 1.5-2 hours a day.

Researcher Emma Fàbrega, at the Institute of Agri-food Research and Technology (IRTA) in Barcelona, says the system works well as it offers a sense of novelty to the pigs. 

She says: “It is not just the type of enrichment that matters, but also the sense of novelty that matters to pigs. There are attributes such as novelty and cleanlinness which can trigger the interest of pigs to use the enrichment materials and, therefore, this increases the efficacy of the material to prevent tail biting.

“Obviously, proper enrichment should be combined with a good health status, environmental conditions and correct stocking densities.”