title: Physiological indicators of stress and meat and carcass characteristics in tail bitten slaughter pigs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tail biting is a common welfare problem in pig production and in addition to being a sign of underlying welfare problems, tail biting reduces welfare in itself. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of tail biting on different pre and post mortem indicators of stress in slaughter pigs and on carcass and meat characteristics. A total of 12 tail bitten (TB) and 13 control (C) pigs from a farm with a long-term tail biting problem were selected for salivary cortisol analyses before and after transport to the slaughterhouse. After stunning, samples were taken for the analysis of serum cortisol, blood lactate, intestinal heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), and meat quality characteristics. In addition, body temperature immediately after and muscle temperature 35 min after stunning were measured, as well as lean meat percentage and carcass weight.
  
  
  RESULTS
  TB pigs showed a lower cortisol response to the transport-induced stress than C pigs and also had a lower serum cortisol concentration after stunning. HSP70 content in the small intestine was higher in the TB pigs than in C pigs. TB pigs had a considerably lower carcass weight therefore produced a lower total amount of lean meat per carcass than C pigs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that prolonged or repeated stress in the form of tail biting causes a blunted stress response, possibly a sign of hypocortisolism. In addition, it underlines the importance of reducing tail biting, both from an animal welfare and an economic point-of-view.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Animal Welfare, Department of Production Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P,O,Box 57, 00014 Helsinki, Finland. anna.valros@helsinki.fi.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valros
authors.forename: Camilla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Munsterhjelm
authors.forename: Eero
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Puolanne
authors.forename: Marita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruusunen
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heinonen
authors.forename: Olli A T
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Peltoniemi
authors.forename: A Reeta
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pösö
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008460:Meat / Q000592:standards*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013552:Swine / Q000293:injuries; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins