Breeding Sow Lifetime Welfare: From Entry to Exit

Breeding sow welfare spans their entire productive life of 3-5 years and is affected by housing, feeding, health and culling decisions throughout.

Key Facts

UK breeding sow numbers are approximately 380,000 with each producing 2-2.5 litters per year
Sows are typically culled at 5-7 parities with reasons including reproductive failure and lameness
Laminitis and joint disease are major welfare problems in sows housed on hard surfaces
Feeding behaviour is highly frustrated in sows fed restricted rations to maintain body condition
Social housing for sows requires careful management of feeding and aggression to achieve welfare benefits

Welfare Considerations

Breeding sow welfare requires attention throughout a multi-year productive life with specific welfare challenges at each stage. Gestation housing, farrowing, lactation, weaning and the transition between litters each present distinct welfare risks. Lameness accumulating over multiple parities causes chronic pain increasingly impairing normal movement and behaviour. Culling decisions directly affect welfare through the timing and method of removal from the herd. A comprehensive lifetime welfare approach that monitors individual sows and addresses problems proactively achieves better cumulative welfare outcomes than reactive management of acute problems.

What You Can Do

Support certification schemes with lifetime welfare monitoring requirements for breeding sows
Advocate for individual health recording requirements enabling proactive welfare management
Choose pork from farms demonstrating low sow lameness and culling for welfare-positive reasons
Support research into sow lifetime welfare management optimising outcomes across the entire productive life