Rooting and exploration are essential behavioral needs for growing pigs, and failing to meet these needs increases undesirable and harmful behaviors such as tail biting. Straw bedding is considered the “gold standard” for meeting these needs in indoor pig farms. However, based on knowledge of pigs’ rooting preferences, other materials such as wood shavings and sawdust can be expected to perform just as well, if not better, when provided in sufficient quantities.
Materials and Methods: This study assessed the impact of bedding materials on relevant indicators of pig behaviour, health, and hygiene. Pigs with intact tails were housed in 12 pens with solid flooring, each containing 8 pigs aged between 8 and 19 weeks. Four pens were assigned to each of the three bedding materials: straw, sawdust, or wood shavings. For each material, a 5 cm layer of bedding was provided and replenished as necessary to maintain this depth. Wet and soiled bedding was removed twice a week. Behaviour was assessed at 9, 11, 12, 16, 17, and 18 weeks of age using continuous focal sampling. Tail, ear, and body lesions were assessed twice a week, while lameness and cleanliness were assessed every two weeks. The increase pThe average daily weight was calculated for the age ranges of 8-12 and 12-19 weeks.
Results: Although no differences were found in the amount of manipulation of the different bedding materials, wood shavings resulted in a shorter duration of tail-pulling behaviour than straw. In line with this, the probability of tail lesions was lower with wood shavings and sawdust, and was also lower with sawdust than with straw. No differences were found in total resting time (indicative of differences in resting comfort), although the probability of different resting postures differed between straw and the two wood-based materials. Pig cleanliness was lower with wood shavings than with sawdust, with no significant differences found compared with straw.
No differences were observed in the other clinical parameters (tail length, fresh tail wounds, lameness, and body lesions) or performance data (average daily weight gain and final weight).
Conclusions: These results suggest that sawdust and wood chips are viable alternatives to straw when provided at a depth of 5 cm, and even demonstrate potential benefits in reducing tail damage.Further confirmation of these results in larger studies and under more challenging conditions may be necessary due to the study’s limited sample size and the low overall rate of tail damage.
Stephanie Buijs, Richard Mott, Nicola Mitchell, Meeting growing pigs’ needs with different bedding materials, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2026, 107201, ISSN 0168-1591, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2026.107201.