Selección Batallé, a leading pig breeding company in Catalonia and always committed to animal welfare, is actively participating in a task force in search of strategies to prevent caudophagia and thus avoid routine tail docking in pigs.
The main objective of the project is to study the efficacy of different strategies to prevent caudophagia under the conditions of rearing in Catalonia, as well as to evaluate the adequacy of the risk assessment systems currently being applied on Catalan farms in relation to their efficacy in preventing outbreaks of caudophagia and to determine the causes. With these objectives, we aim to provide pig farmers in Catalonia with tools to respond to a requirement that represents a challenge for the sector, but also to provide information on whether it is possible to avoid routine tail docking, which would achieve another important long-term strategic objective: to increase animal welfare.
Selección Batallé has studied the validity of different enrichment materials, the use of maternal pheromones and different diet compositions in order to rear the animals in the least stressful environment possible.
The project has received support from the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Generalitat de Catalunya, as well as from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Project funded through Operation 16.01.01 (cooperation for innovation) of the RDP of Catalonia 2014-2020.