Oral management procedures in pigs including teeth clipping and boar tusk trimming cause pain and stress. Understanding best practice reduces unnecessary welfare harm.
Routine needle teeth clipping in piglets has been widely practised but is unnecessary in well-managed systems. Needle teeth cause problems primarily when piglet litters are large or sow nutrition is poor, causing aggressive competition at the teat. Proper management including adequate sow nutrition and early intervention for injured individuals reduces the need for routine clipping. When clipping is necessary, grinding produces less acute and chronic sensitivity than clipping with side-cutters. Boar tusk management requires more regular attention to prevent injury to handlers and breeding females. Training stockpeople to assess whether procedures are necessary, and to use the least invasive appropriate technique, reduces unnecessary oral welfare harm.