Advances in Pig Welfare, Second Edition continues its complete coverage of key areas of pig welfare assessment, management and improvement. The book covers both recent developments and reviews of historical welfare issues, with 12 new chapters addressing the most relevant and significant issues from a global perspective. Sections review the needs of pigs, including chapters on the physical environment and the social and emotional needs of the animals, key welfare issues in the pig's lifecycle from birth to slaughter, including weaning, aggression and pig-human interactions, and emerging topics such as prenatal stress, individual differences and organic farming. Final sections cover pig welfare and attitudes towards pig welfare amongst farmers and other stakeholders. Written by an international team of leaders in the field, the book continues to be a useful resource for practicing vets involved in welfare assessment, welfare research scientists and students, and indeed anyone with a professional interest in the welfare of pigs.

This collection reviews the genetic and developmental factors that affect pig behaviour and assesses ways of optimising pig welfare at different stages of production, from breeding to slaughter.

The domestic pig is perceived as an animal with intelligence and character and yet, in the industrialized world, the majority of people have had little or no contact with them. Pigs are subject to a wide range of environments from the tropics to the sub-arctic, ranging from small-scale, extensive systems to large-scale intensive systems. They may spend their whole life on one farm or may be subject to long-distance transport multiple times. Not surprisingly, many aspects of their life experiences can impact their welfare. This book brings together a team of leading pig welfare research scientists to review the natural history of the pig, the welfare of pigs at different stages of life and to indicate what the future holds in terms of pig welfare. The text is aimed at researchers and teachers working in veterinary and animal science together with those working in the pig industry and for governmental and non-governmental animal welfare organizations.

Advances in Pig Welfare, Second Edition continues its complete coverage of key areas of pig welfare assessment, management and improvement. The book covers both recent developments and reviews of historical welfare issues, with 12 new chapters addressing the most relevant and significant issues from a global perspective. Sections review the needs of pigs, including chapters on the physical environment and the social and emotional needs of the animals, key welfare issues in the pig’s lifecycle from birth to slaughter, including weaning, aggression and pig-human interactions, and emerging topics such as prenatal stress, individual differences and organic farming. Final sections cover pig welfare and attitudes towards pig welfare amongst farmers and other stakeholders. Written by an international team of leaders in the field, the book continues to be a useful resource for practicing vets involved in welfare assessment, welfare research scientists and students, and indeed anyone with a professional interest in the welfare of pigs. Provides the most recent research applications in pig welfare Analyzes on-farm assessments of pig welfare, an extremely important marker for the monitoring of real welfare with impacts and implications for changes in other husbandry systems Includes factors that affect pig welfare, how to practically control these factors, and the impact that these factors have on animal health Provides new chapters on economics, husbandry, environment, climate change and precision livestock

The science and practice of pig production has changed rapidly overrecent decades; new husbandry practices, new understandings ofgrowth, reproduction and health, new appreciations of welfare andenvironmental impact, new nutritional approaches, and modernreproductive and genetic techniques have all come into being,together with the emergence of new health challenges. Now in its third edition, this long established reference bookon the management, breeding, feeding, nutrition, health and welfareof pigs has been fully revised to provide clear and currentinformation on both the practical and scientific aspects of the pigindustry. With the help of a new panel of international experts anda senior editor, the overall structure now contains input frominternational centres across Europe and North America. This edition includes: Updated versions of existing chapters; Completely revised and new sections on: Pig meat and carcassquality, Reproduction, The maintenance of health, Nutritional valueof protein and amino acids in feed stuffs, Value of fats and oilsin pig diets, Product marketing, Environmental management,Simulation modelling; Input from international authorities; Many tables, diagrams, photographs and figures.

Modern society is beginning to re-examine its whole relationship with animals and the natural world. Until recently issues such as animal welfare and environmental protection were considered the domain of small, idealistic minorities. Now, these issues attract vast numbers of articulate supporters who collectively exercise considerable political muscle. Animals, both wild and domestic, form the primary focus of concern in this often acrimonious debate. Yet why do animals evoke such strong and contradictory emotions in people - and do our western attitudes have anything in common with those of other societies and cultures? Bringing together a range of contributions from distinguished experts in the field, Animals and Society explores the importance of animals in society from social, historical and cross-cultural perspectives.

Whilst it can mean enhanced biosecurity, more intensive and globalised pig production (based on a narrowing genetic base) also potentially increases the risk of disease and its spread. It has been estimated that production diseases can lower pig production efficiency by 10-15%, though financial losses can be much greater. The sector must allocate more resources to the creation and development of preventative measures that can be used to tackle the threat of disease. Optimising pig herd health and production provides a comprehensive review of the wealth of research on optimising pig health to prevent the development and consequent spread of diseases that can devastate the industry, such as African Swine Fever (ASF) and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). Chapters in this volume consider the methods used to prevent disease outbreaks, ranging from on-farm strategies, such as managing feed, housing and stocking density to optimise health, to the development and use of vaccines.