Indagine sullo stato di benessere e sanità del suino piemontese dall’allevamento al macello

ntroduction - Animal welfare has become a fundamental requirement of modern animal husbandry and animal-ba- sed indicators are used to evaluate it. Aim - This work provides an overview of heavy pigs fatte- ning conditions to evaluate the effects of some parameters of welfare (animal and non-animal based measures) on gastric and respiratory diseases and glycolysis post mortem trend. Materials and methods - A total of 34 variables related to animals, nutrition, housing system and transport were checked on 11 farms. At slaughter 501 carcasses were inspec- ted to evaluate: health conditions of gastric and respiratory systems; pH on Semimembranosus at 45 min. Results and discussion - Farms fattened pigs in groups varying between 11÷18 pigs/pen, with an area available to each animal of average 1.2 sqm. Dry feeding is more used than liquid. Pigs were loaded in average 51 min, through no linear paths with different slope. Social groups were not respected and animals from different pens were mixed at loading. Positive handling by human, even if in 40% of farms electrical prod- der were still used. Carcass pH at 45 min post mortem was regular in 89% of ani- mals/farm (6.0≥ pH ≤6.8). One farm had 25.4% of animals with pH lower than 6.0. Frequency analysis indicated on 44.2% of animals a chronic or acute respiratory diseases; while 51.5% of pigs had gastric lesions. Correlation analysis showed that the incidence of ga- stric diseases increased with high density of animals in pens and negative human handling. The risk of PSE is reduced by a proper management by operators. Conclusions - Our results suggest that, in intensive heavy pig production, positive handling and availability of appropriate space for each animal during breeding have major influence on gastric diseases and glycolysis post mortem trend. Howe- ver, welfare of pigs depends on a multiple interactive effects of genotype, rearing conditions, transport and pre-slaughter handling. In conclusion our study reflects the interesting use of post mortem measurements as indicators of on-farm and pre-slaughter animal welfare standards. The frequency of ga- stric ulcers could be sufficiently high to warrant inclusion in a welfare focused surveillance system.