page_title: Tail biting in pigs
hierarchical_section_title: Tail biting in pigs
caption_attribution_description: English: A pig whose tail is been bited. 中文（简体）‎: 一头尾巴被咬掉的猪。
context_page_description: Tail biting in pigs is an abnormal behavior whereby a pig uses its teeth to bite, chew or orally manipulate another pigs's tail. Tail biting is used to describe a range in severity from light manipulation of the tail to physically harming the tail, causing infection, amputation or even harming areas surrounding the tail. Tail biting typically occurs under the following conditions: indoor facility with a high density of pigs housed in a confined area; lack of a substrate material; poor ventilation system, or poor feed quality and accessibility.
  There are three types of tail biting: two-stage, sudden forceful, and obsessive. The type of tail biting is based on the behaviors of each the biter and victim, physical consequences of the bite, and conditions under which the biting happens. A common cause of tail biting is due to pigs feeling stressed or discomfort and are looking for something to divert their attention. Some other causes of tail biting involve possible breed predilections, gender, feed source, substrate materials, gastrointestinal discomfort, and general health of the pig.
context_section_description: Tail biting in pigs is an abnormal behavior whereby a pig uses its teeth to bite, chew or orally manipulate another pigs's tail. Tail biting is used to describe a range in severity from light manipulation of the tail to physically harming the tail, causing infection, amputation or even harming areas surrounding the tail. Tail biting typically occurs under the following conditions: indoor facility with a high density of pigs housed in a confined area (like a pen); lack of a substrate material; poor ventilation system, or poor feed quality and accessibility.
  There are three types of tail biting: two-stage, sudden forceful, and obsessive. The type of tail biting is based on the behaviors of each the biter and victim, physical consequences of the bite, and conditions under which the biting happens. A common cause of tail biting is due to pigs feeling stressed or discomfort and are looking for something to divert their attention. Some other causes of tail biting involve possible breed predilections, gender, feed source, substrate materials, gastrointestinal discomfort, and general health of the pig(s). It usually starts out as the pig being curious to investigate its surroundings and begins with harmless nibbling. The nibbling then turns into biting- if blood is drawn from the bite this can cause the pig to bite even more due to their natural appetite for blood.
  Tail biting causes major financial and animal welfare issues within the commercial swine industries due to reduced weight gain, treatments, culling, and carcass condemnation. Studies have been done for farmers to identify the risk factors causing tail biting and to implement and experiment ways to reduce and prevent it. The studies ultimately yielded variable results due to the many factors of tail biting and the fact general recommendations are not appropriate for all farms.
caption: Tail of a pig which has been bitten
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