The farrowing crate is one of the most debated confinement systems in animal agriculture, constraining sows for up to 5 weeks while raising serious welfare concerns.
Farrowing crates prevent sows from building nests before birth, a strongly motivated behaviour. Nest-building frustration causes prolonged repetitive chewing and rooting on the crate bars. Freedom of movement is entirely absent for weeks. Free-farrowing systems with well-designed piglet protection areas offer a viable alternative, and EU-funded research consistently shows comparable piglet mortality rates.