WelFarmers: Avoiding pain in castration

The project recently identified its first round of candidates under the theme "Avoiding Pain in Castration." The project ranges from no castration to castration using anesthesia to immunocastration. More information about the selected practices will be included in future publications.

1. Immunocastration: This farm immunocastrates pigs in large pens containing 350–450 mixed-sex pigs. The pigs are moved to the finisher section at approximately 30 kg. After 1-2 weeks, they are vaccinated for the first time. Four to six weeks before the first pigs are slaughtered, the second vaccination is administered. Three employees perform the procedure using a safety vaccinator and marking spray.

2. Local anesthesia to reduce pain at castration: To ensure surgical castration with minimal stress and pain for the piglet, the correct administration of local anesthesia and analgesia is essential. Vets hold online courses to train personnel, followed by practical training. In this country, it is mandatory to be certified to use local anesthesia.

3. New castration bench for better animal welfare: In 2020, an improved castration bench was developed to enhance animal welfare by ensuring proper fixation and procedure during local anesthesia and castration.

4. Offspring with low boar taint: This project involves reducing boar taint in offspring by selecting breeding boars based on an analysis of their androstenone and skatole content, as determined by fat biopsy sampling.

5. 100% production of uncastrated pigs: This integrator raises all its pigs without castration of any kind. All animals sent to the slaughterhouse are entire pigs.

6. Castration with local anesthesia: Castration begins with the piglet receiving a painkiller. Ten minutes later, local anesthetic is injected into three different points (one shot next to each testicle and one deeper between the testicles). Ten minutes later, the castration can begin.

7. Respecting the piglets in castration with local anesthesia: With this procedure, which involves a painkiller and anesthesia, two workers can castrate two litters in about 30 minutes. During castration, the workers maintain skin-to-skin contact with the piglets and carry them back to the sow in their arms.

8. Enhancing the value of immunocastration: They grow pigs to reach higher finishing weights of 140-160 kg. Seven trained staff members manage the entire process to ensure full compliance. To avoid any risk of noncompliance, they administer an additional third safety vaccination to 5-15% of pigs.

9. Minimizing the pain of castration: After discussing the protocol with the practicing veterinarian, they made the following adaptations: reducing the volumes injected for very small piglets and using fine needles to minimize injection pain.

10. Optimizing castration: An optimized protocol involving two workers, two trolleys, and four boxes reduces the amount of time that the piglets remain in the restraint device and makes the task easier for the operators.

11. Rationalizing the practice of immunocastration: Animals are sexed upon arrival at the nursery when they are 21 days old. Pigs receive the first injection at the end of the pre-fattening period, at 16 weeks old, before going to the fattening stage. The second injection takes place four weeks later during the fattening period. If necessary, a third injection is administered to about 10 out of 75 males in the room.

12. No castration general practice: This farm has always followed the practice of not castrating and separating animals by sex, and no major challenges have been experienced.

13. Castration with painkiller and anesthetic: The painkiller Meloved® is injected intramuscularly into the neck area. The local anesthetic Aticain® is injected subcutaneously into the testicles.

14. Dry ice analgesia: The protocol for this analgesia involves local cryoanalgesia using ice spray.

15. IMMUNO: This is an experimental trial that is not routinely used on the farm. Vaccination interventions are performed subcutaneously at the base of the ear at 22, 24, 32, and 36 weeks, followed by slaughter at 40-41 weeks.

16. Meloxicam & Isoflurane: The trial was conducted in 2021 with 128 piglets from 20 sows. This practice is not currently used due to regulatory limits on isoflurane utilization.

17. Relief of postoperative castration pain: Male piglets receive 0.25 ml per head of a meloxicam product (0.4 mg per kg of body weight) before castration, which occurs on days 5 or 6, to reduce soft tissue inflammation and postoperative pain.

18. Surgical castration with analgesia and local anesthesia: A painkiller, Melovem®, is injected intramuscularly into the neck area. With the help of an assistant, the veterinarian administers the local anesthetic Aticain® subcutaneously at the midline between the two testicles in the most ventral part of the midline near the groin.

19. Finish entire pigs: The farmer has always raised entire male pigs and reports no difficulties with market acceptance. The pigs are grouped by weight and sex, and the farmer strives to keep these groups together from weaning to finishing.

20. Growing entire males: For approximately 50 years, the practice of separating piglets by sex and size has been in place. This method aims to improve growth, average daily gain, and carcass quality while reducing fat tissue. This method also shortens the time pigs spend on the farm and allows for the sale of more homogeneous groups based on sex and size. It also allows for the sale of entire males without market issues.

21. Immunocastration to reduce pain: An immunocastration protocol consisting of two doses administered at 16 and 20 weeks of age is followed by this farmer.