The farrowing period when sows give birth and nurse piglets is a high-welfare-risk period, with conventional farrowing crates preventing natural behaviour while reducing piglet crushing.
The farrowing crate was developed to prevent sows rolling onto and crushing piglets, but imposes severe behavioural restriction on sows. The motivation to nest before birth is intense; frustrated sows in crates show repeated stereotypic nesting attempts. Well-designed free-farrowing systems can achieve comparable piglet survival while allowing sows to perform natural behaviours. The European evidence base shows this is achievable at commercial scale with appropriate system design.