Does a higher content of fibre in the piglet diet have an influence on tail biting in growing pigs?

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of a higher content of soluble dietary fibre in the diet of growing pigs on tail biting. Pig groups were of equally distributed mixed gender and males were castrated during the first days of life. Two treatment groups were investigated over nine batches with on average 194.4 (SD 14.0) pigs per batch. One treatment group (n = 810) received a conventional diet (control) from 29 to 51 days of age. The other treatment group (n = 821) was fed with a commercially available dietary diet (fibre) wherein levels of soluble dietary fibre had been increased by 0.5 (Piglet-Growing-Food-I) respectively 1.6 (Piglet-Growing-Food-II) percentage points. Tail lesions and tail losses were scored once a week and weight was recorded at pen level during weaning, three weeks later and before the start of the fattening period. Tail biting was influenced by week after weaning (p