Indicators of Animal Welfare in Pigs in growth and fattening phase

The application of different technological innovations to the intensive systems of pig production has generated some problems related to health and animal welfare in modern facilities. Even considering that some significant advances have been registered in the reproductive and productive parameters of the various genetic lines, it should be emphasized that such technical levels have resulted in changes in the pig environment in the different phases of the productive system (breeding, maternity, rearing and fattening facilities), once the collective management adopted in the confinement causes new aggressions to the health and comfort of the animals, requiring preventive measures against the emergence of stress situations. To evaluate whether these animals are under welfare conditions, it is necessary to use together some welfare indicators capable of expressing the capacity for adjustment (meeting the biological needs) or failure (stress/suffering, low performance and abnormal behavior) in their adaptation to the provided environment. Among the recognized indicators, the behavioral, physiological, productive and sanitary, in the pigs in the stage of growth and fattening stand out the behavioral and physiological, and, for this reason, will be the main focus of this article. Behavioral indicators of well-being failures are based especially on the occurrence of abnormal behaviors, and those who move away from behavior in the natural environment. On the other hand, the discovery of metabolic, immunological and neuro-endocrine mechanisms makes it possible to describe the stress reaction in physiological terms.