e-infrastructure Roadmap for Open Science in Agriculture

A bibliometric study

The e-ROSA project seeks to build a shared vision of a future sustainable e-infrastructure for research and education in agriculture in order to promote Open Science in this field and as such contribute to addressing related societal challenges. In order to achieve this goal, e-ROSA’s first objective is to bring together the relevant scientific communities and stakeholders and engage them in the process of coelaboration of an ambitious, practical roadmap that provides the basis for the design and implementation of such an e-infrastructure in the years to come.

This website highlights the results of a bibliometric analysis conducted at a global scale in order to identify key scientists and associated research performing organisations (e.g. public research institutes, universities, Research & Development departments of private companies) that work in the field of agricultural data sources and services. If you have any comment or feedback on the bibliometric study, please use the online form.

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Title

Tail posture predicts tail damage among weaned piglets

en
Abstract

Tail biting in pigs is a widespread behavioural vice with significant animal welfare and economic consequences. All too often, tail biting is not diagnosed nor dealt with until tail damage is present. To effectively reduce the negative effects of tail biting, it must be diagnosed in an early stage. So far no predictors for tail damage have been found. Predictors that recognise tail biting in an early stage, however, would be helpful in practice. We tested the hypothesis that tail behaviour can predict tail damage. To analyse this, we observed tail posture, tail motion and tail damage of 992 weaned piglets on an experimental farm with known tail biting problems. Tail posture (curled tail, hanging tail or tail between legs), tail motion (motionless, wagging or intense wagging) and tail damage (no damage, bite marks or a tail wound) were observed three times a week during the 32 days post-weaning period. Results showed that both tail posture and tail motion were related to tail damage at the same observation moment (P < 0.001). Furthermore, tail posture could predict tail damage (P < 0.001), but tail motion had no predictive value for tail damage (P > 0.05). When a piglet was observed with a curled tail (and no tail damage), the chance of bite marks or a tail wound 2-3 days later were 8.6% and 3.5%. When a piglet was observed with its tail between the legs (and no tail damage), the chance of bite marks or a tail wound 2-3 days later increased to 22.3% and 8.5%. Furthermore, when a piglet was observed with its tail between the legs (and no tail damage) in two consecutive observations, the chance of bite marks or a tail wound 2-3 days later increased to 32.4% and 23.7%. It was concluded that a piglet's tail posture is strongly related to tail damage at the same moment and can predict tail damage 2-3 days later. Checking tail postures on a regular basis increases early recognition of tail biting. This can help pig producers to take appropriate measures to prevent further escalation of the problem. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

en
Year
2009
en
Country
  • NL
Organization
  • Wageningen_Univ_and_Res_Ctr_WUR (NL)
Data keywords
    en
    Agriculture keywords
    • farm
    en
    Data topic
    • information systems
    en
    SO
    APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE
    Document type

    Inappropriate format for Document type, expected simple value but got array, please use list format

    Institutions 10 co-publis
    • Wageningen_Univ_and_Res_Ctr_WUR (NL)
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    e-ROSA - e-infrastructure Roadmap for Open Science in Agriculture has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 730988.
    Disclaimer: The sole responsibility of the material published in this website lies with the authors. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.