ASPECTOS DE BEM-ESTAR ANIMAL EM CRIAÇÕES DE SUÍNOS VOLTADAS À SUBSISTÊNCIA

The knowledge of the major welfare problems affecting pigs at different stages of productionis necessary to improve herd management plans. In intensive production systems, the different situations affecting pig welfare are already well defined, but there is no such knowledge about metropolitan region of Curitiba, Paraná. During the visits, points related to feeding, housing, health, and animal behavior were observed. Thin animals were observed in 15.7% of the farms, which could indicate problems with food supply. Water supply was inadequate in 41.6% of the farms, mainly due to dirty water, use of inappropriate containers and lack of supply. Problems with environmental conditions were noted in 15.7% of farms, with the most common problems related to unsafe structures and lack of natural light; in addition, there was generally no investment in means of temperature control. There were pigs with skin lesionsin 4.5% of places visited, but pigs with lesions on the tail were not observed. In most of the farms studied (67.2%), the pigs were subjected to pain caused by castration without anesthesia. Regarding the factors that may affect the behavior of the pigs, it was found that there was a lack of material to enrich the environment and that animals were housed alone was verified. The situations observed in this study indicate that there are challenges related to animal welfare in livelihood pig production, the most common being inadequate water supply and castration without hte use of anesthesia.