title: Influence of hands-on experience on pig farmers' attitude towards alternatives for surgical castration of male piglets.
abstract: This study evaluates the influence of practical experience with alternatives for surgical castration (SC) on farmer attitudes. Nineteen farmers in Flanders were surveyed before (ex-ante) and after (ex-post) performing each of five treatments on farm: 1) SC with analgesia (SCAN); 2) SC with CO2 anaesthesia (SCCO2); 3) immunocastration (IM); 4) production of entire males (EM); and 5) SC without pain relief (SCN). For SCCO2 and SCAN, farmers mainly experienced disadvantages in terms of increased labour, costs and complexity. Hands-on experience promoted EMas a valid alternative for SCN due to the actual and perceived improvement in performance and profitability as well as the reduced labour demands. Experience with IM did not fully fulfil the favourable ex-ante expectations resulting in a level of dissatisfaction and a less favourable general attitude ex-post.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit, Scheldeweg 68, 9090 Melle, Belgium. Electronic address: marijke.aluwe@ilvo.vlaanderen.be.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aluwé
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Department of Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, V. Vaerwyckweg 1, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vanhonacker
authors.affiliation: Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit, Scheldeweg 68, 9090 Melle, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Millet
authors.affiliation: Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Animal Sciences Unit, Scheldeweg 68, 9090 Melle, Belgium.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tuyttens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000698:Analgesia / Q000662:veterinary; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000662:veterinary; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D001290:Attitude; D000067565:Farmers / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009919:Orchiectomy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology / Q000662:veterinary*; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: Alternatives; Boar taint; Farmer; Hands-on experience; Immunocastration; Piglet castration