No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Oral Administration of a 12% Sucrose Solution Did Not Decrease Behavioural Indicators of Distress in Piglets Undergoing Tail Docking, Teeth Clipping and Ear Notching
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 January 2023
Abstract
Sucrose has been shown to attenuate the behavioural response to painful procedures in human infants undergoing circumcision or blood collection via heelstick. Sucrose has also been found to have a behaviour-modifying effect in neonatal rats exposed to a hot plate. The effect was abolished in neonatal rats by injection of the opioid antagonist naltrexone, suggesting that it was mediated by endogenous opioids. In this experiment, the behaviour of 571 newborn Large White x Landrace hybrid piglets in a specific-pathogen-free piggery of the University of Queensland was recorded during and after the routine management practices of tail docking, ear notching and teeth clipping. Piglets were randomly assigned to receive 1.0 ml of a 12% sucrose solution (treatment group) or a placebo (1.0 ml of air) administered via syringe in the mouth, 60 s before commencement of one of the management procedures. Behaviours were recorded at the time of the procedure, and then 2 min after completion of the procedure. Piglets that received the sucrose solution did not behave significantly differently from piglets receiving the placebo. Regardless of whether sucrose or placebo was administered, piglets undergoing the routine management procedures showed significantly greater behavioural responses than piglets undergoing no procedure. It was concluded that under commercial conditions, a 12% sucrose solution administered 1 min prior to surgery was not effective in decreasing the behavioural indicators of distress in piglets undergoing routine management procedures. Further research into methods of minimising distress caused to piglets by these procedures is recommended.
Information
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- © 2002 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
References
Blackshaw, J K 1981 Some behavioural deviations in weaned domestic pigs: persistent inguinal nose thrusting and tail and ear biting. Animal Production 33: 325–32Google Scholar
Blass, E M, Kehoe, P and Fitzgerald, E 1987 Interactions between sucrose, pain and isolation distress. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour 26: 483–489CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blass, E M and Fitzgerald, E 1988 Milk-induced analgesia and comforting in 10-day-old rats: opioid mediation. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behaviour 29: 9–13CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blass, E M, Fillion, T J and Rochat, P 1989 Sensorimotor and motivational determinants of hand-mouth co-ordination in 1-3 day-old human infants. Developmental Psychology 25: 963–975CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blass, E M and Hoffmeyer, L B 1991 Sucrose as an analgesic for newbom infants. Pediatrics 87: 215–218CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blass, E M and Watt, L B 1999 Suckling- and sucrose-induced analgesia in human newborns. Pain 83: 611–623CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
England, D C and Spurr, D T 1967 Effect of tail biting on growth rate of swine. Journal of Animal Society Proceedings 26: 890–891Google Scholar
Fraser, D 1987 Attraction to blood as a factor in tail biting by pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 17: 61–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kehoe, P and Blass, E M 1986 Behaviourally functional opioid systems in infants: evidence for pharmacological, physiological and psychological mediation of pain and stress. Behavioural Neuroscience 100: 624–360CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morton, D B and Griffiths, P H 1985 Guidelines on the recognition of pain, distress and discomfort in experimental animals and a hypothesis for assessment. Veterinary Record 116: 431–436CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noonan, G J 1994 Oral sucrose as an analgesic in newborn piglets and puppies undergoing tail docking. Masters thesis, the University of Queensland, AustraliaGoogle Scholar
Noonan, G J, Rand, J R, Priest, J, Ainscow, J and Blackshaw, J K 1994 Behavioural observations of piglets undergoing tail docking, teeth clipping and ear notching. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 39: 203–213CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owens, M E 1984 Pain in infancy: conceptual and methodological issues. Pain 20: 213–230CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Penny, R H and Hill, F W 1974 Observations of some conditions in pigs at the abattoir with particular reference to tail biting. Veterinary Record 2: 174–180CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Senate Select Committee 1990 Report by the Senate Select Committee on Animal Welfare: Intensive livestock production. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra, AustraliaGoogle Scholar
Tranquilli, W J and Raffe, M R 1989 Understanding pain and analgesic therapy in pets. Veterinary Medicine 84: 680–686Google Scholar
Wiepkema, P R 1983 On the significance of ethological criteria for the assessment of animal welfare. In: Smidt D (ed) Indicators Relevant to Farm Animal Welfare pp 71 -80. Martinus Nijhoff: The Hague, The NetherlandsCrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 10
- Cited by