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Impact of general injection anaesthesia and analgesia on post-castration behaviour and teat order of piglets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2012

T. Schmidt ,
A. König  and
E. von Borell
T. Schmidt
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Husbandry and Ecology, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Theodor-Lieser Street 11, D-06120 Halle, Germany
A. König
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Husbandry and Ecology, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Theodor-Lieser Street 11, D-06120 Halle, Germany
E. von Borell*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Husbandry and Ecology, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Theodor-Lieser Street 11, D-06120 Halle, Germany
*
†E-mail: eberhard.vonborell@landw.uni-halle.de
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Abstract

Injection anaesthesia with a combination of ketamine and azaperone (K/A) is discussed as a painless alternative to commonly used non-anaesthetized castration. To protect anaesthetized piglets from being crushed, they have to be separated from the sow for 3 h following castration. The aim of this study was to test if this separation and the different treatments would affect short-term behaviour after castration (3 to 6 h after castration) as well as weight gain. Piglets were 5 to 7 days old. Treatment Group 1 received a combination of anaesthesia and analgesia (n = 29, ketamine: 25 mg/kg BW; azaperone: 2 mg/kg BW; meloxicam: 0.4 mg/kg BW), Group 2 received only analgesia (n = 24) and Group 3 received no medication (n = 29). Behaviour and suckling order were compared for a 3 h period the day before castration and after castration. A significantly higher number of teats used by anaesthetized piglets (P = 0.004) suggests a decrease in suckling order stability. There were significant treatment effects between all three groups in the time spent at the sow's teat, with an increase in Group 2 (+69%), decrease in Group 1 (−28%), whereas the control Group 3 (+2%) almost remained unchanged. The anaesthetized piglets showed an increase in the time spent active away from the sow after castration of almost 200% (Groups 2 and 3: ∼50%, P < 0.001). However, no significant treatment effect was seen for weight gain. The results suggest that analgesia has an effect on behaviour, perhaps due to less post-castration pain. This advantage is not apparent for animals receiving additional anaesthesia, probably because of impaired coordination. Although the behavioural changes did not affect weight gain significantly, a decrease in suckling order stability indicates a certain degree of stress due to fighting over teat positions as a consequence of separation. Thus, post-castration behaviour must be taken into account when evaluating alternative castration methods.

Keywords

anaesthesiaanalgesiateat orderpiglet castrationanimal welfare
Type
Behaviour, welfare and health
Information
animal , Volume 6 , Issue 12 , December 2012 , pp. 1998 - 2002
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2012

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