Researchers from the Prairie Swine Centre chose the opening day of the Banff Pork Seminar to showcase their work in improving animal welfare along the pork value chain.
Partners in Canada’s swine industry are challenged to increase output and meet animal welfare and environmental sustainability targets, while remaining efficient and profitable, says Yolande Seddon, associate professor with Western College of Veterinary Medicine and Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in Swine Welfare for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. NSERC’s current swine program – running at the University of Saskatchewan over a course of five years – pools investment from 14 private corporations and non-government organizations involved in swine production and pork marketing. On the afternoon of January 9, as delegates gathered for the 2024 Banff Pork Seminar, the NSERC IRC team hosted a Swine Welfare Research Forum.
Seddon gave an overview, followed by a series of presentations on the program goals and wrapped up with a look at the ongoing work that addresses wider welfare priorities.
Prairie Hog Country was later offered an opportunity to meet with Seddon and speak with two of the presenters, both post-graduate students under her supervision, about their specific areas of research.
Doctoral candidate Karolina Steinerová presented Goal 2, which asks why quality of life matters and how the pork value chain can embrace that concept.
Steinerová earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Protection and Welfare while still living in the Czech Republic, and later moved to Sweden, where she completed a master’s degree in animal science. Her work investigates play behaviour in pigs, with her current project looking at the impact of encouraging play in pens of younger animals.
“We show that the positive animal welfare and the promotion of positive experience for pigs can actually bring some benefits that are very valuable,” said Steinerová.
Her experimental group is regularly given new enrichment to encourage play. It is important that different items be introduced each time because pigs will get bored with their new “toys” after they have played with them for awhile, she said. Pigs in the experimental group have learned to anticipate her arrival and become markedly excited when she brings them new playthings.
Results so far indicate that pigs offered regular play sessions in this way show significant performance improvements when compared with pigs from the control group, where no enrichment is provided, said Steinerová.
“We also looked at how play behaviour and the positive experience for the animal can, for example, increase disease resilience.
“We challenged piglets . . . with PRRS virus, which is a really relevant pathogen, and we rewarded pigs with play opportunities.
“We actually saw some beneficial effect on the immune response. For example, the pigs basically recovered faster from the challenge. They grew more, they had higher average gain, they had less severe respiratory symptoms and potentially less stress during their life. There was less aggression and also potentially lower inflammation in the body. That’s why the response was more effective.”
The additional level of exercise would also be a benefit to the piglets in the experimental groups, in combination with the positive stimulus from active play, said Steinerová.
Seddon added that most of the play takes place in the first 15 minutes after a new enrichment is provided, therefore it should not be a burden on the producer and barn staff to keep the pigs entertained.
University of Saskatchewan graduate Carmen Cole, now working on a master’s degree in swine welfare, presented the forum with an overview of additional work the team is performing to address wider priorities in animal welfare.
Cole has focused her research on developing an electrocution technique for on-farm euthanasia of larger pigs in a way that is more humane and user-friendly than other options.
“Our aim is to look into . . . a one-step electrocution technique to humanely euthanize pigs on farm. This is addressing pig welfare and supporting timely euthanasia on farm. Also really important is the well-being of the people that must perform euthanasia because it’s not a pleasant task to have to do,” said Cole.
Her research will determine whether electrocution is a simpler and more effective means of on-farm euthanasia than other methods. Using a captive bolt or gunshot is effective, for example, but both methods require accuracy and rifles come with additional baggage including the need for licensing and secure storage, she said.
“So, if we could support (humane euthanasia) with a method that’s more user friendly to implement and perhaps less visually distressing for a person, that would bring benefits for people working on the farm.”
Still in its early stages, the project looked first at various means of attaching the electrodes to cause the least distress to the pigs.
The next step looks at how those attachments would be able to effectively deliver an electrical charge suited to the task.
“We’re evaluating three different sets of connections,” said Cole.
“The main goal behind them is to target the brain and the heart. So, with that, we’re looking at the base of the ear and the tail using a set of clamps or using clamps on the upper lip and the flank. We’ve also developed a bridle that would go in the pig’s mouth and behind the ears. We’d combine that with a belt that goes around their lower abdomen.”
In all cases, the charge is delivered through a 120-volt, alternating current supply.
While investigating euthanasia techniques is a heavy topic, it is also important for pigs and for the people handling them, said Cole.
“I came to really understand the value that this project could bring. I think the need and the value is what drew me to it. And I feel like it’s an important topic to present,” she said.
Team members taking part in the forum opened discussion on three additional goals:

• Siba Khalife spoke about how early life management of pigs influences their long-term welfare in fully-slatted systems.
• Darian Pollock discussed analyzing hormone levels in hair as an indicator for measuring swine welfare.
• Martyna Lagoda looked at swine welfare monitoring at the abattoir and whether animal welfare measured on carcasses can provide a continuous measure for on-farm and preslaughter handling.
  

Animal welfare has been a key research component at Prairie Swine Centre dating back 20 years, when the program was developed under Harold Gonyou’s lead, said Seddon.
“There were a lot more questions as to where this would go and you can see there’s a difference in the attitude now,” she said.
“There are more productive conversations and an agreement that it has a place in the swine industry and it’s part of the model that has to be considered, the welfare of the pig.”
Swine producers may not always see a direct benefit in updating their animal welfare practices, said Seddon. Some practices, such as pain control, may add cost and labour with no improvement in production, but they are ethically correct and contribute to the industry’s social license.
“When you enhance animal care and the welfare, you generally see an increase in productivity, so that’s something where the industry can capitalize,” said Seddon.
“You also have the social license, so if it’s opening markets for you and maintaining that you can sell pork, your industry may not exist without it. At its most basic level, the welfare of pigs on farm should and can be elevated and the industry should be increasing swine welfare to an acceptable level.” •
— By Brenda Kossowan