The objective of this project was to evaluate drugs and administration procedures to help identify effective and practical pain control strategies for piglets at castration across three different studies. Results indicate the analgesic, ketoprofen, has a positive effect on reducing pain following castration when given 30 minutes to 1 h before castration. Drug provision immediately before castration appears to be better than providing no pain control. Older piglets showed a clearer response when given pain control than young piglets, and could be used as a model for young pigs when evaluating pain control options.
Practical Alternatives for Managing Castration Pain in Piglets (full PDF)
