An investigation into the use of sucrose to reduce castration pain in piglets

Oral sucrose was evaluated for its ability to reduce pain following castration. Piglets (n = 126) were assigned to one of five treatments: 1) castrated and given 3 ml of water (C); 2) castrated with 3 ml of 30% sucrose before castration (sucB); 3) castrated and given 3 ml of 30% sucrose after castration (sucA); 4) sham castrated and given 3 ml of water (SHAM); and 5) sham castrated and given 3 ml of 30% sucrose (sucSHAM). Piglet navigation time (NT) through a handling chute was tested at 0, 15, 30 and 45 min after treatment as a measure of pain. Serum cortisol and pen behaviours were also recorded. At 0, 15 and 30 min, C piglets had a greater NT than SHAM and sucSHAM piglets (PThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author