One of the difficulties in complying with the prohibition of routine tail docking is a lack of effective alternative solutions to prevent tail biting, especially in fully slatted systems. This study compared three slat-compatible enrichment replenishment strategies for pigs. Forty-eight mixed-sex pens (six males and six females/pen) of undocked pigs were followed from birth to slaughter. Pre-weaning, half the pigs were provided with enrichment materials (a cardboard cup, rubber toy, hessian cloth and bamboo), in addition to a rope for the sows, in all farrowing crates. Post-weaning, all pens were enriched with eight identical items, including an elevated rack supplied with fresh-cut grass, and objects of wooden, bamboo, rubber, and fabric materials presented in various ways. However, three different replenishment frequencies were applied: “Low” (replenished on Monday/Wednesday/Friday), “Medium” (replenished once daily), and “High” (replenished ad libitum). Individual pigs were weighed on days 0, 49, 91, and 113 post-weaning. Direct behavior observations were conducted twice weekly at pen level (10 min/day/pen), and tail and ear lesion scores of individual pigs were also recorded every other week. These measurements were taken during the post-weaning period. The cost of all enrichment materials used was calculated. Pre-weaning enrichment only contributed to a lower ear lesion score (P = 0.04). No difference in lesion scores was found between post-weaning treatments. “Low” replenishment rate pigs performed more damaging behaviors (tail/ear biting, belly-nosing, mounting, other biting, and aggressive behaviors combined) than “High” and “Medium” pigs (P < 0.01). The average daily gain in the finishing stage was higher in “High” than “Low” pigs (P < 0.05). Although sporadic tail biting occurred, only 0.69% of the pigs had their tails bitten severely enough that they became shorter than half of a normal undocked tail. The average enrichment cost for the post-weaning period was <€2 per pig. In conclusion, the high enrichment replenishment rate increased growth and reduced damaging behaviors compared to the low replenishment rate pigs. Overall, these findings show that the provision and regular replenishment of multiple, slat-compatible, enrichment sources can reduce tail damage to manageable levels without the need for tail docking.

遵守常规断尾禁令的困难之一是缺乏有效的替代解决方案来防止咬尾，特别是在全板条系统中。本研究比较了猪的三种板条兼容的富集补充策略。对四十八个混合性别猪栏（每栏六只雄性和六只雌性）的未断尾猪进行了从出生到屠宰的跟踪。断奶前，除了为母猪准备的绳子外，在所有产仔箱中还为一半的猪提供了丰富材料（纸板杯、橡胶玩具、粗麻布和竹子）。断奶后，所有围栏里都装满了八件相同的物品，包括一个装有新割草的高架架，以及以各种方式呈现的木制、竹子、橡胶和织物材料的物品。然而，应用了三种不同的补货频率：“低”（周一/周三/周五补货）、“中”（每天补货一次）和“高”（每周补货一次）。随意）。在断奶后第 0 天、第 49 天、第 91 天和第 113 天对每头猪进行称重。每周两次在栏水平进行直接行为观察（10 分钟/天/栏），并且每隔一周还记录个体猪的尾部和耳朵损伤评分。这些测量是在断奶后期间进行的。计算了所有使用的浓缩材料的成本。断奶前强化仅导致耳部病变评分较低（磷= 0.04）。断奶后处理之间未发现病变评分存在差异。“低”补给率的猪比“高”和“中”的猪表现出更多的破坏性行为（咬尾巴/耳朵、肚皮鼻、骑乘、其他咬伤和攻击行为的总和）。磷< 0.01）。“高”猪在育肥阶段的平均日增重高于“低”猪（磷< 0.05）。虽然咬尾现象时有发生，但只有 0.69% 的猪尾巴被严重咬断，以致比正常未断尾的尾巴还要短。断奶后阶段的平均浓缩成本为每头猪 <2 欧元。总之，与低补给率的猪相比，高富集补给率的猪生长速度加快，破坏行为减少。总体而言，这些发现表明，提供并定期补充多个与板条兼容的浓缩源可以将尾部损坏减少到可管理的水平，而无需进行尾部对接。