subject: Essential Tips on Pig Behavior and Handling to Help You Raise Pigs Without Frustration [print this page] Essential Tips on Pig Behavior and Handling to Help You Raise Pigs Without Frustration
Research, along with common sense, tells us that handling our food animals gently will result in higher levels of productivity. This is certainly true of pig production. In fact, pigs are particularly susceptible to becoming over-excited due to aggressive handling. Outside of daily activities such as feeding or observing pigs for health issues, pigs tend to be handled at specific times in their lives such as processing at birth, castration, weaning and moving to the nursery, moving to the finisher, and marketing. Breeding stock is handled at breeding, pregnancy checking, vaccination, and weaning.
Pigs have a strong natural urge to escape and will try to squeeze through any gap that they detect. They also have a natural tendency to follow each other and maintain visual or body contact. In addition, pigs are very easily frightened. Bright light, shadows, darkness and loud noise can all startle pigs. Pigs raised in artificial light will often refuse to enter bright sunlight. Eliminate loose equipment, slick floors, moving or shiny objects, and water puddles from the handling areas. Also, be sure to avoid aggressive handling behaviors, including using electric prods, yelling or making loud noises, moving pigs too fast or in groups that are too large, overcrowding them, and allowing excessively long periods of inactivity.
Handlers who understand the concepts of flight zone and point of balance will be able to move pigs more easily. The flight zone is the pig's personal space, and the size of the flight zone is determined by the wildness or tameness of the pig. Completely tame pigs have no flight zone and allow people to touch them.
