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Relationship between animal-based on-farm indicators and meat inspection data in pigs
Johanna Witt1, Joachim Krieter2, Kathrin Büttner3
1Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University, 24098, Kiel, Germany. jwitt@tierzucht.uni-kiel.de.
Porcine Health Management
|January 25, 2024
Summary
Slaughterhouse indicators can partially replace on-farm animal welfare assessments for pig health, particularly for limb and respiratory conditions. However, a complete substitution is not yet feasible, requiring further investigation into long-term traceability.
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Veterinary Medicine
- Agricultural Science
Background:
- Validating slaughterhouse indicators as alternatives to on-farm animal welfare assessments.
- Assessing 628 pigs across three farms using 12 on-farm and 7 slaughterhouse indicators.
- Developing three indices: limb health, other organ health, and respiratory health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if slaughterhouse findings correlate with on-farm health and welfare issues.
- To evaluate the potential of slaughterhouse indicators for monitoring pig health.
- To assess agreement between on-farm and slaughterhouse health assessments over production periods.
Main Methods:
- Animal-level assessment using agreement parameters (Prevalence-Adjusted Bias-Adjusted Kappa - PABAK).
- Logistic regressions to examine the connection between slaughterhouse findings and on-farm health indices.
- Analysis considering different production periods and weeks prior to slaughter.
Main Results:
- Acceptable agreement between on-farm and slaughterhouse indicators was found for farrowing and fattening periods, but not rearing.
- Agreement improved closer to slaughter (acceptable at 4 weeks, poor at 8 weeks).
- Specific slaughterhouse indicators (pneumonia, pleuritis, bursitis) showed potential for estimating on-farm conditions like fever and lameness.
Conclusions:
- Slaughterhouse indicators can partially substitute some on-farm health indicators.
- Complete replacement of on-farm welfare assessment is not currently possible.
- Further research is needed to investigate the long-term traceability of these indicators.
