ArticleIrish veterinary journal
Identifying physiological measures of lifetime welfare status in pigs: exploring the usefulness of haptoglobin, C- reactive protein and hair cortisol sampled at the time of slaughter.
Article in Irish veterinary journal. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations recommendations of best practices for the health management of ruminants and pigs used for scientific and educational purposes.Laboratory animals · 2021Guideline
- Is Magnesium Supplementation an Effective Nutritional Method to Reduce Stress in Domestic Pigs? A Systematic Review.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2020Pooled it
- Comparative Analysis of Abattoir-Based Measures and On-Farm Pig Welfare Indicators in Italian Fattening Heavy Pigs.Veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Regular outdoor access decreases stress with positive effects on the health of growing pigs raised on a conventional farm.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Thermal imaging: A potential tool for early detection of tail lesions in pigs?Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2026Article
- Non-Invasive Human-Free Diagnosis Methods for Assessing Pig Welfare at Abattoirs: A Systematic Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Detecting ear lesions in slaughtered pigs through open-source convolutional neural networks.Porcine health management · 2025Article
- Part II: understanding pain in pigs-pain assessment in pigs with spontaneously occurring diseases or injuries.Porcine health management · 2025Review
- Part I: understanding pain in pigs-basic knowledge about pain assessment, measures and therapy.Porcine health management · 2025Review
- Literature review of the use of Qualitative Behaviour Assessment with a fixed list of terms.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2025Review
- Well-Being and Performance of Nursery Pigs Subjected to Different Commercial Vaccines Against Porcine Circovirus Type 2,Vaccines · 2024Article
- Non-invasive methods for analysing pig welfare biomarkers.Veterinarni medicina · 2024Review
- Indicators of improved gestation housing of sows. Part I: Effects on behaviour, skin lesions, locomotion, and tear staining.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2023Article
- Hair cortisol concentration in finishing pigs on commercial farms: variability between pigs, batches, and farms.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Article
- Biosecurity and Lairage Time versus Pork Meat Quality Traits in a Farm-Abattoir Continuum.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Welfare of pigs on farm.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2022Article
- Risk Factors for Chronic Stress in Sows Housed in Groups, and Associated Risks of Prenatal Stress in Their Offspring.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2022Review
- Effects of Wash Protocol and Contamination Level on Concentrations of Cortisol and Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in Swine Hair.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Analysis of Hair Cortisol as an Indicator of Chronic Stress in Pigs in Two Different Farrowing Systems.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2021Article
- Leukocyte Coping Capacity: An Integrative Parameter for Wildlife Welfare Within Conservation Interventions.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPhysiological measures indicative of the welfare status of animals during rearing could form part of an abattoir-based animal health and welfare assessment tool. A total of 66 pigs were used in this study, the aim of which was to assess how serum concentrations of haptoglobin (Hp) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (assessed in 51 pigs), and hair concentrations of cortisol (assessed in 65 pigs), measured at or close to slaughter, reflected welfare-related indicators recorded from the animal during its lifetime. These indicators were recorded at intervals between 7 and 21 weeks of age and included assigning scores for levels of tail and skin lesions, recording the presence or absence of certain health issues, and conducting qualitative behavioural assessments (QBA).
resultsPigs recorded as having tail lesions during their lifetime had higher hair cortisol levels than those with no tail lesions (tail lesions: 47.87 ± 3.34 pg/mg, no tail lesions: 42.20 ± 3.29 pg/mg,
conclusionThis research should be repeated on a larger scale, but the results suggest that hair cortisol measured at slaughter could provide insight into the welfare status of pigs during their lifetime. Hp may be a useful indicator of tail lesions in pigs. However, further research utilising a greater proportion of severely bitten pigs is required before conclusions can be drawn.
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