Animal Welfare and Pig Behavior
By Paul Walker Thompson
July 15, 2014
The advent of the Farrowing Crate
In the 1950’s brought about a
Drastic decrease in Pre-Weaning Piglet Mortality, mainly in the reduction of crushed piglets!
Though many Animal Rights Activists are
Concerned about sows being crated, research
Shows that the sows feed consumption while in a farrowing crate, and their subsequent
Reproductive performance demonstrate that the sow
Functions well even though she is confined
To a farrowing crate.
Close to half of all Pre-Weaning Piglet Deaths
Happen in the first 3 days of the piglet’s life.
About half of these are still due to crushing.
There are a lot of factors that influence the incidence of piglets getting crushed:
(A) The natural behavior of the piglet to lay next to the sow the first 3 days of its life.
(B) Environmental Temperature.
(C) Piglets being small at birth, and most likely weak, and easily chilled.
(D) The type of buildings and crates used.
Since the selection for High-Lean Sows and
High-Lean Piglets has caused a selection
For larger sows, there is a need in the
Swine Industry to upgrade its farrowing crates,
Both in length and width!
Rudd and Marchant in 1995 found that the number of pigs crush was positively correlated to sow length. This increase in sow size in the last 10 years has probably made the situation worse. This is probably an Animal Welfare Issue!
There has been increased upgrading of Sow Hut Design, whereby Outdoor Farrowing Units can
Produce large numbers of pigs weaned per litter. The Danish have come up with a combined pen/farrowing crate which holds promise to deliver the best of both worlds:
(A) Piglet Safety and
(B) Sow Mobility and Freedom
It is, however, the opinion of this writer that sows can demonstrate great
Maternal Instincts in the farrowing crate by
(A) Laying down slowly
(B) Turning their head to look at and “talk” to their piglets and
(C) Nursing their piglets frequently
These attributes have been seen in today’s Maternal Sows!
References:
(1) Lay, D.C. Jr., R.L. Matteri, J.A. Carroll, T.J. Fangman, and T.J. Safranski. “Preweaning survival in swine” 2002 American Society of Animal Science. J
