Animal Welfare-friendly Pig Housing Systems

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   1. Objectives
   2. Learning goals
2. Course content: Animal Welfare-friendly Pig Housing Systems
   1. Consumer awareness
   2. Legislation and enforcement
   3. Inventory of pork production systems
   4. Semi-natural conditions
   5. Selection of six pig production systems
   6. Farrowing sows
   7. Lactating sows and piglets
   8. Fattening pigs
   9. Gestating sows
   10. Boars
   11. Scientific reports
3. Completion
   1. Comments
   2. Self-assessment
   3. Key messages
   4. Further reading
   5. Evaluation

Learning goals

After working through this resource, employees in industry should be able to:

• demonstrate that the domestic pig has the same behaviour and needs as the wild boar
• give examples of factors in conventional housing systems that can result in poor welfare
• discuss the welfare of pigs in different commercial pig production systems.

After working through this resource, students in higher education should be able to:

• demonstrate that the domestic pig has the same behaviour and needs as the wild boar
• explain that factors such as farrowing pen design, straw availability and floor design have to be considered in an animal welfare-friendly system
• outline the current housing systems for sows, unweaned piglets and fattening pigs
• describe the problems related to confinement in crates
• describe the problems related to insufficient space allowance
• describe the problems related to production systems without litter
• analyse the welfare of pigs in different commercial pig production systems.