Stress Pig Handling

Presentation notes for: Saskatchewan Association of Veterinary Technologists November 7, 2010

Presenter: Nancy Lidster, DNL Farms Ltd.
Submitted July 8, 2010

Low Stress Pig Handling: Taking Pig Handling from Battlefield To Ballroom

Since 1996 I have collected video of several hundred people moving pigs. Some handlers work with breathtaking ease; some fight every inch of the way; many fall somewhere in the middle. Successful handlers follow patterns and principles that all handlers can apply to bring more of their pig moving episodes into the realm of dance.

Pig handling problems reflect a clash of instincts between handlers and pigs. We need to understand both species’ instincts if we are to move from strategy to choreography; from battlefield to ballroom.

Humans are chase animals by nature. Unless we over-ride our instincts with knowledge, conscious choices, skills, and positive habits, our instincts direct everything from how we position ourselves to how we ask pigs to move and, they do it without our awareness.
Until they learn otherwise, most handlers try to use physics to move pigs. They assume that pigs will move away from a force and that more force produces more / faster / farther movement. The force they use is often threat or fear.

They try to use pigs’ flight zones to move them. They tend to position themselves behind animals and work close enough to make contact with their hands or other tools. They often makes pigs fear and distrust them and set up herd behaviour patterns that interfere with pig movement.

Pigs’ responses are determined by their brains and not by physics. Pigs seek safety when we’re working them. They want to:
- watch their handlers
- keep handlers out of their flight zones
- get release from pressure
- stay with the herd

Our instinctive actions conflict with pigs’ needs for safety. Being close enough to make contact puts us inside pigs’ flight zones and gives them no release from our pressure. Working close behind pigs puts us in their blind spots where they can’t see us. Getting pigs scared expands their flight zones and makes them even more concerned about keeping track of us.
When we won’t let pigs get away from us they get scared and switch to other responses. They are more likely to balk, circle back, or bunch up and refuse to move. Besides being harder to move, scared pigs are more prone to injuries, meat quality losses, and stress-related performance and productivity losses.
When pigs won’t move and we don’t know how to fix it, our instinctive responses intensify and make problems even worse.

Solution. We usually move pigs in groups and groups of pigs give us herd behaviour. As pigs get scared their herd behaviour changes to patterns that interfere with easy movement, especially when handlers try to rely on pigs’ flight zones to move them.

Instead of relying on pigs’ flight zones to move them, we manage their other safety needs: their attention, flight zones, and release from pressure to produce herd behaviour that will help us: herd FLOW to move pigs; herd BUNCHING to stop movement for vaccinating and tagging; CIRCLING to sort, start movement, or set up a FLOW.

Summary. Pigs and people each come wired with their own instincts. We can only accept and work with pigs’ instincts as they are.
If we want to turn pig handling from a battle into a dance we have to understand and stifle our own instincts, understand what motivates pigs, and cater to their needs so they can be our willing partners.