Knowledge
Dossier: Farrowing housing and management
This page provides background information and practical knowledge on the welfare issues related to farrowing housing and management and how welfare problems can be limited in practice.
Important behavioural and physiological needs of both sow and piglets that need to be considered to facilitate welfare of sow and piglets are described. Five important key areas challenging welfare of sows and/or piglets are highlighted:
- Space and freedom to move
- Comfortable climate
- Nest building and exploration
- Litter size and competition
- Mutilations
Guidance and recommendations for actions to take to improve the welfare on farms is given within each key area.
Space and freedom to move
Adequate space and freedom to move:
- Sows need space for nest building, lying-down and getting-up movements, turning around, and exploration. If not possible, this results in frustration and stress.
- Piglets need space around the udder to get access to their preferred teat. They also need space for a thermally comfortable nest area where they all can rest together.
Read more & links
Options to provide more space are:
- Use of modified farrowing crates designed with the opportunity to adjust bars to provide more space for large sows and/or open up the bars of the crate to allow sows to turn around after a period of crating.
- Loose housing, with more space, freedom to move, and with the opportunity to nest build and to perform behavioural thermoregulation.
- Well-designed pens of at least 6-7 m2 with division of space into functional zones, opportunities to provide functional nest materials and assure protected and thermal comfortable lying area for piglets to protect them from being crushed.
Relevant links
- Effects of loose housing and the provision of alternative nesting material on peri-partum sow behaviour and piglet survival, Bolhuis et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 202, 28-33, 2018
- Housing of sows during farrowing: a review on pen design, welfare and productivity, Pedersen et al., Livestock housing, 2013
- Alternative farrowing accommodation: welfare and economic aspects of existing farrowing and lactation systems for pigs, Baxter et al., Animal, 6(1): 96-117, 2012
- Council Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs, EC, 2008
- Freefarrowing.org, information resource on research and design of free farrowing and lactation systems.
Comfortable climate
Sows and piglets have different thermo-neutral zones. For piglets:
- Newborn piglet have a thermo-neutral zone around 34°C.
- Newborn piglets are at high risk of dying of hypothermia when born into a slatted or barren concrete floor.
- At birth, newborn piglets are attracted to the sows udder and therefore a heated creep away from the sow do not protect them.
Read more & links
For sows:
- The sows’ thermo-neutral zone, in contrast, is around 16-20°C. Crated sows and sows with large litters are particularly sensitive to heat stress.
- Piglets start seeking towards a heated area away from the sow 1-2 days after birth
Improving thermal comfort of piglets:
- Placing heat lamps or radiant heaters behind the sow during birth.
- Providing jute sacks behind and beside the sow, or sufficient dry straw, to dry and warm the piglets.
- After 1-2 days of age for resting in thermal comfortable area: access to a heated creep area, where they are protected from being crushed by the sow.
Improving thermal comfort of sows:
- Loose-housing of sows allow them to thermoregulate by seeking up a cooler floor surface.
- In crated sows: use of snout coolers, chilled drinking water, cooled air, floor cooling and drip cooling to reduce heat stress.
Relevant links
- Effects of loose housing and the provision of alternative nesting material on peri-partum sow behaviour and piglet survival, Bolhuis et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 202, 28-33, 2018
- Radiant heat increases piglets’ use of the heated creep area on the critical days after birth, Larsen et al., Livestock science, 201, pp. 74-77, 2017
- Effect of radiant heat at the birth site in farrowing crates on hypothermia and behaviour in neonatal piglets, Andersen and Pedersen, Animal, 10(1): 128-134, 2016
- The ability of different thermal aids to reduce hypothermia in neonatal piglets, Pedersen et al., Journal of animal science, 94(5), 2151-2159, 2016
- Gebruiksinstructie jute doek als nestmateriaal voor zeugen, Hoofs, Boerenadvies, 2017
- Influence of thermal environment on sows around farrowing and during the lactation period, Malmkvist et al., J. Anim. Sci. 90 (9): 3186-3199, 2012
- Council Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs, EC, 2008
Nest building and exploration
Sows have a strong motivation to build a nest. When the performance of nest building is prevented, this leads to stress.
Possibilities for nest building and for piglets to explore:
- Attaching a jute sack a straw rack, sisal rope and/or branches to the crate/pen fittings provides sows with some outlet for the motivation to nest build.
Read more & links
- Providing wood shavings, straw, shredded paper and newspaper in front of the sow stimulates nesting behaviour. Such materials can also serve as exploration material for piglets.
- Keeping sows loose in pens – as a best practice - with a partly slatted floor and to provide them with either peat, chopped straw and/or a jute sack. Even more effect is achieved by providing abundant straw.
Relevant links
- Effects of loose housing and the provision of alternative nesting material on peri-partum sow behaviour and piglet survival, Bolhuis et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 202, 28-33, 2018
- Strategic use of straw increases nest building in loose housed farrowing sows, Westin et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 166, pp. 63-70, 2015
- Effects of prepartum housing environment on abnormal behaviour, the farrowing process, and interactions with circulating oxytocin in sows, Yun et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 162, pp. 20-25, 2015
- Council Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs, EC, 2008
- Enrichment material farrowing pen, video YouTube, EURCAW-Pigs, 2020
- Nestbuilding behaviour sow - jute sack, video YouTube, EURCAW-Pigs, 2020
- Nest building behaviour of organic outdoor kept sows, video YouTube, EURCAW-Pigs, 2020
Litter size and competition
Large litters are associated with reduced birth weight and growth, and higher piglet mortality:
- When number of piglets outnumbers functional teats this hampers establishment of a teat order.
- Highly productive sows have difficulties ingesting sufficient feed to match milk yield/requirements.
Read more & links
Managing litter size and reducing intra-litter competition:
- Using less prolific genotypes allowing sows to care for their own piglets without intensive management input.
- Reducing litter size would also increase birth weight and thus result in better growth and increased survival.
- Supply of sufficient energy during the final part of the pregnancy period and right until the farrowing to avoid fatigue of the sow.
- Split-suckling, to provide colostrum to all piglets.
- Use of nurse sows to care for surplus piglets.
- Providing access to milk supplements in drinking cups inside the farrowing pen.
- NB: Rescue decks are not recommended, due to related welfare problems and earlier separation of sow and piglets than stated as minimum weaning age in EU Council Directive 2008/120/EC.
Relevant links
- Managing the litter from hyperprolific sows, Baxter et al., in: The suckling and weaned piglet, pp. 71 – 106, 2020
- Effect of litter size, milk replacer and housing on production results of hyper-prolific sows, Kobek-Kjeldager et al., Animal, 14(4), pp. 824-833, 2020
- Effect of litter size, milk replacer and housing on behaviour and welfare related to sibling competition in litters from hyper-prolific sows, Kobek-Kjeldager et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 230, 2020
- Piglet mortality and morbidity: Inevitable or unacceptable, Baxter and Edwards, In Advances in Pig Welfare, pp. 27-72, 2018
- Artificial rearing affects piglets pre-weaning behaviour, welfare and growth performance, Schmitt et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 210, pp. 16-25, 2019
- Impact of sow energy status during farrowing on farrowing kinetics, frequency of stillborn piglets, and farrowing assistance, Feyera et al., Journal of Animal Science, 96(6), pp. 2320-2331, 2018
- Council Directive 98/58/EC concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, EC, 1998
- Council Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs, EC, 2008
Mutilations
Different mutilations of neonate piglets take place in the farrowing unit including tail docking, teeth grinding and castration.
Alternatives to mutilations or reducing pain and stress:
- Best practices to reduce the need for tail docking, are through reducing the presence of known risk factors for tail biting (see dossier on tail biting on EURCAW webpage).
- In order to reduce the need for teeth grinding, litter size can be reduced and sufficient space for suckling provided.
Read more & links
- Methods for reducing pain and stress (fear) during surgical castration include providing anaesthesia and/or analgesia prior to and after castration.
- Immuno-castration is an alternative method for surgical castration only causing pain during injection of the vaccine when pigs are kept in the fattening unit.
Relevant links
- Commission staff working document on best practices with a view to the prevention of routine tail-docking and the provision of enrichment materials to pigs, EC, 2016
- Council Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs, EC, 2008
- The physiological and behavioral response of pigs castrated with and without anesthesia or analgesia, Sutherland et al., Journal of Animal Science, 90(7), pp. 2211-2221, 2012